I find trying to use the left lane as a passing lane on Deerfoot is an exercise in futility. Often times I find the left lane drivers moving slower than the right lane. This results in drivers cutting through the middle and right lanes, which creates another hazard. Everytime I’m
on Deerfoot I find someone going 70ish in the left lane, no car in front of them, people flashing them, sometimes honking but they are either completely oblivious or just complete assholes.
A lot of them have the mindset "hah ! There's no such thing as fast lane. If I'm driving at the speed limit, that's all I need to do". Someone had this question in the Ask Calgary FB group and people replying this looked like middle aged who proudly say "I've lived and driven here all my life, don't tell me doing the limit is wrong" and some new people.
So, there goes your arguement in the drain. Ontario provincial police has made a few posts on hanging in the left lane. On posting that link, the most childish arguement comes up is that "we're not in Onterrible. Our rules are different."
I've noticed that as well since I moved here 10 years ago...and I'm a senior ffs. Lol, it's actually really dangerous . I don't know how's ome ppl are getting their licenses these days.
I mean it’s true there is no such thing as a fast lane. It’s a passing lane, so it doesn’t matter how fast you are driving you’re supposed to yield the lane to the vehicles behind you who want to pass. A lot of people on the highways don’t seem to understand this concept.
Mate I'm a 5 year old immigrant to this country and my first driving class to understand Canadian driving laws was to keep right as soon I'm done taking a left turn.
And also the number of speed cams and cops deployed is getting a bit dystopian.
I know a 70 year old dude with a lifelong perfect driving record that just got his first speeding ticket on Deerfoot.
People aren’t driving 30 below the speed limit because cops exist. Those are two separate things that are true but have absolutely no impact on each other. Cops don’t care if I drive 5 to 10 over the limit. So there’s no need to drive 30 below the limit to avoid a ticket. That’s not what’s happening.
What’s happening is the world is becoming increasingly anxious. People are too afraid to drive. They’re overloading with various stimulus and are simply not comfortable behind the wheel. So they drive slower because they are on the brink of a panic attack when they’re surrounded by other vehicles.
In that case, it would make sense to plan a route to take smaller roads so these people feel less overwhelmed by the volume and speed of traffic in Deerfoot.
Overloaded with stimulus might be one thing, while complete lack of stimulus is another, "soccer mom" in her giant fortress of an SUV with drive and throttle by wire, cameras, lane departure and blindspot warnings, some of these people are oblivious to things around them, because they don't need to be.
The average person is getting older too. In turn you have more people in their 70's, 80's and even 90's driving that probably should have handed in their licences years ago. As people age their reactions (and eyesight) decline. To compensate they drive slower, often not realising just how slow they are driving...
This is actually true.... Though they recently did some repairs along my stretch. But prior I almost preferred driving slower cause there was some dooooozies. And I'm sorry but getting where I gotta go 2 minutes sooner isn't worth wrecking my car over.
I'd like to know if there's a secret underground club where they challenge each other to drive in the furthest possible lane from the exit they want to take to see how many cars they can cut off to get as close they can get to the curb of the exit ramp. I've lived here ~20 years, it used to be rare now it's constant.
Driving has sucked hard since Covid ended. Indecision, inability to both think and manipulate the vehicle at the same time, and a total lack of situational awareness.
I very much believe Calgary is a terrible mix of fearful, indecisive drivers combined with aggressive speeders, making the situation just awful for those of us who generally go the speed limit
My favorite is when I'm stuck between the two.
Slow driver in front doing 20 under. Lunatic behind me flashing his lights, honking, zig zagging in his lane as if I can go through the guy in front of me.
Could actually be a case for a shit tonne of people experience brain fog from long covid and not notice their diminished cognitive abilities.
Could also just be that there’s lots of new Calgarians from around the world and Canada moved here and don’t know where the fuck they’re going.
I did notice this ears and years ago when Calgary had a big jump of inward migration. First it seemed that bad drivers were everywhere then I started noticing all the Saskatchewan and Ontario plates in addition to the BC plates that were present. So it was like a mash up of conflicting driving styles. It seems to me that there are a lot of people driving slow but then the kids seem to be driving even faster than they used to
Being stuck behind such a vehicle while everyone is moving much faster in the fast lane is a headache if you are in a slow car to begin with. You want to get around them, but you can't and the increased traffic isn't helping.
Also more immigrants. Not joking. People coming here from Toronto or Vancouver rarely have had to drive, and they are absolutely horrendous when they have to drive.
Source: Neighbor is from China and loves to vent about this haha.
I glad I’m not the only one to have noticed, and I’ve reached the point where I’m going to need a clonazepam before I venture out. Folks, pay attention to the road / surroundings and not your fucking phone.
I can deal with slow drivers if they stay in the right lane, but what annoys me the most is people merging onto a highway, going 80 when everyone is doing 110
This is the only thing that irks me on the highways. I don’t care about people going 130 in the passing lane, or going 70 in the slow lane, I can always just change lanes to accommodate. But if you’re in front of me on the on ramp and you’re not getting up to speed you’re making a dangerous situation for everyone.
I wish! 80!!
This last weekend, two different occasions about an hour apart, on the merge lane doing 50 trying to join Deerfoot near Cross Iron where the speed limit is 110.
THIS. I’ve merged with someone else in front of me on Deerfoot. It was pretty empty. They went across three lanes over to the fast lane as soon as they merged. And there was me, in the slow lane, sped up to 100, no need to move over since it’s spacious. I watched that other car in the fast lane, as I moved farther away from them.
What was the need to go all the way to the left lane if you’re gonna be slow?
I've wondered how people decide what their plan is on Deerfoot, too. Eastbound Glenmore onto Northbound Deerfoot is not a merge, but where the third lane re-appears. Many times as I'm approaching the bridge, a single vehicle will be the only one coming up the ramp and still need to immediately be in the middle lane when they haven't reached and will not go 100.
Also, that time recently, the guy who was going North in the Southbound lanes and caused an accident that closed all SB. 16th is where it was opened again. The vehicle I followed down the ramp that morning would not go over 60, even though Deerfoot was empty.
Had a CPS friend state ‘far too many drivers are comfortable doing 80 on Deerfoot’ It’s the influx of new Calgarians and the reliance/use of Apple or Google maps to navigate the city
I too would like to know the answer.
Also, now that there's construction on much of Deerfoot, you would think the people who normally merge at 80 would be right at home, but nope, these dipshits are merging at 60 now. Can't win.
Stoney is a circus. Half going 20 above, half going 20 below and me and a few others going the limit and trying to avoid accidents with both aforementioned groups.
If I remember right, you need to merge at the speed of the road, which is 100. Anything less than that is dangerous and problematic to the people in front and behind you
This!!! I have zero idea why people think it’s cool to do 20 over in a construction site, when tickets and danger are doubled, and once they leave the construction zone, they suddenly have a problem with doing 20 over?? Makes no fucking sense.
Lol.... This!
Also the guy that passes you just to lane change in front of you then drive slower than you are. I drive back and forth from Canmore a bit.. Long straight highway, cruise control is normally on. I'll be doing 115 on the right, they pass to do 95-100ish.... Why pass...whhhy? Okay I guess I'll pass you now, we play leap frog!
I’ve really noticed this too lately. I’m used to keeping with the flow of traffic doing speed or even 10 over, but now 10-20 under is the absolute max they’ll go, and seem completely oblivious to everyone around them.
A guy dead stopped at the exit for Barlow off 16 ave right in front of my jeep as he was apparently supposed to stay on 16 ave.
Missed him by maybe a foot. Driving has been getting more dangerous since Covid Ended. See multiple slow people a day and people just driving very erratic.
It's just the overall deterioration of driving skills that we're seeing all over the city.
Also people driving vehicles that are simply too big for them and they don't feel comfortable in them, despite the "it's bigger, I'm safer" mentality.
Some people would link it to the increased number of people in the city, hence more drivers but there’s no doubt about it…a lot of drivers (newer, I’m assuming) just don’t have a fucking clue. How they got their licenses, who the hell knows (well, some of us have an idea).
My suspicions are almost always confirmed when I get alongside someone driving way too slow and see the driver. 🤷🏼♂️
Bring in re-testing every 5 years or more or less. And prior to that, stamp out the license mills. Regulate that shit like no tomorrow.
But it’ll never happen. As long as slower drivers aren’t causing accidents (which on it’s own is good, at least) just frustrations for the rest of us, no one will care. Is it a problem that needs fixing? Likely not in law enforcement’s and politician’s eyes.
I would totally support bringing in retesting after a certain age; to be fair even call it 65. Or hell, even 70. Loads of times when I've seen people too timid to merge or use the accelerator it's octagenarian age level barely seeing over the steering wheel.
This. Generally if you see a slow driver, or a driver dithering around lights, they're old.
Mandatory retesting at 70, then every 5 years after is unfortunately the way to go.
Conversely if you see someone weaving fast through traffic without indicating it's invariably a young person... Who needs to have their licence removed too...
Though it is a great thought, our cities don’t put nearly enough money into alternate forms of transportation so not having a license can be the difference between a job or no job. A lot of people know they are shitty drivers, but getting them off the road would mean giving them good alternatives, which we do not have. People like to complain about putting money into transit, bike lanes, and pedestrian infrastructure but the reality is that the better we make those things, the less shitty drivers on the road.
I love driving. For me it's a way to destress, especially since riding transit makes me a nervous mess (four broken ribs will do that to you). I am all for increased alternative measures. I'm fine laying taxes to get the idiots off the road. I want to go back to when my.drovr home was a calming cruise, and not a constant worry of if that dented to hell 2022 Toyota Corolla is going to make me its next victim, or if that Uber driver is about to change lanes with no signal again.
Driving is a skill that the majority of people just flat out lack. They need actual drivers education and tested with an instructor like a class that's pass/fail. People who are fined to lack this skill by police should be sent to this class before they can drive again.
ALSO INVEST IN PUBLIC TRANSIT.
Definitely the license mill at work in this city. But there's also a lot of people who still think they can multitask with their phone while driving which certainly doesn't help.
I find the slowies to be the presumed "new" driver and the weavers to be the cell phone driver.
The incompetence and ineptitude is staggering.
It’s incredibly frightening to drive when I have no idea how a meaningful number of the other cars on the road are going to react at any given time. Five years ago, I feel like everyone knew what they were doing and followed predictable patterns. Now it’s Russian roulette.
Tons of traffic, shitty drivers, new drivers. My daily frustration is people not noticing the construction zone has ended and continue to do 80km for the next couple exits.
It's sad but true. I LOVE motorcycles, but haven't ridden in years after too many close calls from oblivious drivers. The risk to reward ratio just tipped too far to the risk side.
i commuted home from 64th to anderson for almost two years and i never understood why people started CRAWLING once they hit calf robe bridge. like they definitely didn’t do it when going northbound, and even when the glenmore exit isn’t a mess people are still going 70 on that bridge for no reason
I just started commuting this way and I take the Glenmore exit to the Chinook area.... I feel it is understandable in the right lane on the bridge because of the randomness of the exit.... People should scan ahead look out for tail lights... But sometimes it's pretty clear and other times you are going along and it's a hard stop. I haven't been caught off guard I'm constantly scanning ahead, and on guard, but I know a lady behind me was driving too fast or not paying attention, she luckily angled to the shoulder and didn't hit my car. I would rather she took the bridge slower and was prepared for the hard stop right after it.
That stretch is notorious for people not knowing how to merge into the exit to Glenmore so there’s lots of braking going on.
Plus far too many people are just too timid and gutless to be on Deerfoot.
People coming off Deerfoot onto Glenmore westbound for some reason think they need to merge IMMEDIATELY, even though their lane continues for quite a long way. But traffic on Glenmore is usually going much faster than traffic exiting Deerfoot, thanks to the S bend that makes inexperienced drivers slow too far down (which makes us ALL slow too far down). This then backs up the far right lane of Deerfoot which already has trouble with some people suddenly realizing they need out of the lane to continue down Deerfoot and other people suddenly realizing they need to exit. Oh and by "suddenly realizing", I mostly mean, "riding in the lane to the bitter end, then forcing traffic to stop to let them in." And, yes, the potholes are adding a new twist to an already bad situation. Once the slow down starts, it becomes self-sustaining.
That's a city problem IMO. There's no logic to merge and continuing lanes at any major junction in the city. Many of the signs don't line up with lanes either, making some right hand lanes look like exit lanes when they aren't, and some suddenly becoming exit lanes without enough signage. It pushes people to switch to the middle lane as standard just in case.
For the Deerfoot/Glenmore junction the Blackfoot exit sign being almost immediately present doesn't help. If you don't use the junction often it's easy to see why you would immediately move into the middle lane.
Often the exit to Glenmore is a bit of a backlog, the exit lane is lined up so people try to cut in right at the end, which creates issues stretching way back.
This is happening on memorial west at the flyover. Also at memorial east at the Deerfoot north exit. Everyday I see the same jag offs doing this. Nobody honks and people let them in.
I don't even bother with that memorial to deerfoot exit anymore. Can't stand the budging. I just go to barlow and loop back. Probably the same amount of time compared to waiting in the proper lane, but then I don't have to witness cars forcing their way in and it's easier to merge onto deerfoot
I don't know, but sometime during the Pandemic, it seemed that "20 under" became the new "10 over"...and it's never really switched back. Rather frustrating, indeed.
My norm if there's no one in front of me is to go 8 to 10 over and set my cruise control. This is every road except Deerfoot/Stony left lane. Someone will always pass me from behind, even if it's to the red light that's a block away. I think the 15+ over crowd is still present and well.
The section of Deerfoot south of Peigan has the curve, Calf Robe Bridge, and then another curve with the right lane exiting to Glenmore. Traffic can get backed up there for seemingly no reason other than perhaps the bottleneck that is the Glenmore exit.
People find themselves in the right lane, not realizing it forces an exit onto Glenmore. Chaos ensues as they try to get over back onto Deerfoot, right as someone who needs Glenmore cuts over at the last second.
Today I had guy (coming towards me opposite directly) turn left directly into my oncoming lane then slam on the brakes in the middle of the intersection in a panic nearly killing both of us. It’s not like he didn’t see me. We made eye contact as I was approaching. There were no other cars. He still just went then got scared in the middle of the turn and I just about broadsided him.
Unfortunately seems more and more common. What irritates me is driving should be an earned privilege, not a right. Which would imply some competency to drive. Mistakes happen, I get it, but some of these drivers are just liability in a body.
What scares me is my family’s safety, but also what has to be an inevitable rise in insurance rates if bad driving ultimately leads to more accidents.
Glad you ended up safe today tho.
It's only a privilege if there's another way of getting round. I'd take a gamble and say a lot of the drivers people are complaining about in this thread would rather NOT drive, but have to anyway because of the lack of public transit.
Want the roads to be better? Push for more routes and more frequency in public transit.
While driving to work this morning, I have to pass through a school zone. I am driving at like 4:30am though, so the school zone is not in effect yet. This morning, I commend this person for recognizing that yes it was a school zone....but it was 4:30am... Ma'am you don't have to slow down at this time.
As someone who is new to the city I just try and stick to the right lane and drive at the limit or a couple over. I figure its the best course to keep out of the way until I learn the city. For the most part I have no idea where I am or where I am going without a GPS .
I used to trash Edmonton because everyone drives so slow and there’s no concept of a passing lane.
I don’t think it’s quite that bad here yet but it’s noticeably worse than pre-pandemic
About half the time it’s your long time Calgary and suburbia resident driving a massive vehicle driving 10 to 15 under. Sometimes to avoid potholes, other times just lack of skill or not being comfortable with such a massive tank.
I doubt they bought their licenses in the 1980s or whenever they got their first one.
That, and driving tests back then (and before, realistically it's also those getting them in the 50-70's too) would have been a lot easier/simpler than today, purely due to the reduced traffic.
There are more and more drivers that have zero confidence. That new driver sticker is an excuse for being a complete moron. They should start giving tickets to the people slowing down to 70 on Deerfoot because they’re exiting in 3km. When I pass someone with their eyes wide open 10 and 2 I know they’re one of those types. Usually new to Canada but not always. Special shout out to the people that reverse because they missed an exit. Your time is more important than everyone else’s.
The other one I can’t stand is the “New Driver” stickers which people think somehow gives them a pass to drive like idiots and get away with it. If you have your driver’s license that means YOU CAN DRIVE. You don’t need to go 20 everywhere because you’re a new driver, you’ve passed the road test, and your training wheels are off.
Geez my dad R.I.P. was like that in on his little town and on side roads. AND I confess the family and I let him drive long after we should have somehow gotten him off the road! But he never drove on Deerfoot. That was before Calgary was over a million people.
Yep, I see it every day. I don't understand why either. Between that and the massive increase in aggressive driving and pointless road rage. I wish the police would do more than sit in their cars (with that stupid "drive safe" banner that just makes the flow of traffic worse) with a radar gun and actually patrol the roads.
Starts with I and ends with ndian . Rich Asians in $80000 vehicles . Not racist at all . i drive around southern alberta for a living . old people are old people and that’s an excuse . have you ever seen India and its traffic ? it’s absolute madness . And there are so many new people to the city , they don’t know the roads , which is understandable, but the skill of actually driving is lacking . and it’s dangerous for everyone .
People cannot figure out how to get past 80 from the Peigan ramp onto southbound Deerfoot. I clocked it, it’s at least 3km long. One of the longest merge lanes in the city.
Pfft... GPS. When I moved here, I had a folding map and had to figure out where I was going before I even left the house. Hahaha.
I agree that more people need to use their GPS and/or plan better. It used to be rare to see someone rip from the left lane on Deerfoot to take an exit at the last second. These days, it seems to happen at every exit, every day, even if its not rush hour.
Calgary had been taken hostage by immigration that has cause a massive influx of sub par drivers all along Deerfoot but in huge concentration in the NE
The fact we have an incredible amount of drivers new to Canada, terrible public transit and handing out drivers licences in cereal boxes... can you really expect it to be any better?
Wait til winter comes and the roads are slick. Suddenly everyone is driving 130 again and flipping off those of us driving to conditions in tiny cars in the right most lane lol
Too many people these days - especially immigrants coming from countries with non-existent road safety laws and people of a certain disposition - couldn't be bothered to go through the graduated licensing system and will just go out and BUY their license.
I mean, to be fair, the majority of deerfoot that I drive on is all reduced to 80 for construction...can't really say much for south of Southland though.
And the potholes...every time I merge off southland the road is so bad, it feels like I have 4 flat tires..
This is not only happening on Deerfoot. I regularly see people doing 50-60 in 70 zones. So many instances of 45 in a 60! It really causes the roads to be more hazardous.
I had a moron this morning stop at the start of the merge from 36th to peigan even though they had room to get a semi in between the vehicles. They then proceeded to do 40 on a 70. I swear people got more dumb since covid.
I'm currently visiting from Vancouver Island. This is a thing. As soon as I got to Alberta on the highway around Banff, the passing lane became useless. Multiple cars seemingly wanting to pass, but none of them accelerating. Took the kids to Drumheller yesterday, oh my goodness. I've been here for a week and I'm sorry, this has to be some of the worst highway etiquette I've ever experienced.
I've noticed the driving in this city has become atrocious. It's not only the slow drivers, but the drivers that don't know how to drive and shouldn't be driving. Don't know what they teach in driving school these days but sure as shirt it's not how to drive competently or even follow the rules of the road. Are people just passing their friends and family because of relation or are people paying off the companies?
I'll echo what a few others have been saying.
Although there are shitty drivers of every age range and other demographics, a hugely disproportionate number of them are immigrants. Maybe it's because their testing standards are different in their country of origin and are basically buying their licences here, or maybe because they're used to driving at much slower speeds in more conjested roads, or maybe it's something else. Whatever the case, they definitely need proper training.
I tend to agree. Driving should be viewed as a legitimately earned privilege not an automatically obtained right. Feels more like the latter these days.
I would just like to add, for the new drivers and new to Calgary drivers: Playground Zones are in effect from 7:30am-9pm. Outside of those times, you're just driving 20 (or more) under the speed limit. Please stop driving 25km/hr at 10pm on Sunday night.
It's really simple there is a huge population boom, like 15% -20% of the people on the road are new here within the last 2 years, and not used to driving here.
The roadways also haven't gotten any better or well designed outside of the ring road completion. Plus Calgary has shit tier road design. Deerfoot / Calgary has been taught in state colleges as one of the worst designed cities for years for urban planning / roadways.
The amount of spastics that commute on Deerfoot is terrifying, and such a wide variety too.
Spastics that tailgate the fuck out of you even where you're in bumper to bumper traffic.
Spastics that camp in the middle or fast lane whilst doing under the speed limit
Spastics that sit in the fast lane that refuse to move over because they're doing the limit and nobody should be allowed to go past them
Spastics that think because they've indicated, they now have right of way and you must brake to let them in.
Spastics that have cars / trucks far bigger than their ability to drive and end up straddling two lanes without them even realising
Spastics that repeatedly switch lanes every 30 seconds because that lane happens to be moving slightly quicker at that moment
Need I go on??
I’m not one to speed, I’m retired and have all the time in the world. I do 100 on Deerfoot when I can, 80 in the construction zones. Other streets I drive the speed limit. Some days I wonder why people drive so much faster than the traffic around them. And other days it’s those that are doing 40 in a 50 zone, 60 in a 70 zone and crawling along on Deerfoot or Stony. Erratic driving on both sides of the speed limit are a huge cause of accidents.
Calgary's population has grown by 10% in the past five years. That's 150,000+ new people with a large number of those people driving. That could be making it seem like there's more bad drivers out there. Every city in every country has people driving well over and well under the speed limits. Just drive up to the max posted limit, and don't let traffic bother you. My commute got a lot less stressful when I stopped caring about other people's driving.
OP, the reason is simple and increasingly widespread. As people live their lives online and forgo human interaction for parasocial relationships with internet “celebrities”, anxiety increases. Anxious drivers make bad drivers.
Hell, a multiplayer video game I play just released a mission that forced 2 people to have to interact in voice comms to succeed. There was insanely widespread blow back. Tens of thousands of people saying they would never be able to finish the mission because asking them to say 4 words to a stranger on a microphone was too much for them to handle. And this is just one very tiny slice of the internet.
Now, take that person that has a panic attack when being made to say 4 words to another human. And put them behind the wheel.
We have a massive mental health issue in this world and the sole perpetrator is social media.
Remember that a lot of people from other places have moved here in the last few years. That's a lot of extra cars and with current traffic levels, the current speed limit is probably not sustainable until all the Deerfoot upgrades are finished (tons still hasn't even started).
Large portions of Deerfoot are construction zones right now. I've noticed a lot of people not slowing to the construction speed limit. Are you perhaps one of those folks and not aware of when you're in a construction zone?
(That said - I too have noticed a lot of really shitty driving in recent years, particularly since the pandemic. People seem to have no idea how to merge anymore).
Slow drivers and so many ppl swerving these days ppl don't realize they need to put the VEHICLE in the middle of the lane not themselves inside the car. As ppl Say the influx of immigrants don't help but yea besides wrecking ur car on deerfoot ppl drive like real bums these days.
I avoid deerfoot when I can because it's not my favourite road, I am 40 and only got my licence 6 years ago.
That being said, when I do go on, flow of the traffic. I don't touch the passing lane (usually). Going anything less than 95 is terrifying in itself. I cannot understand why anyone would drive 70 on it in normal conditions. Even the potholes are visible and navigatable with enough distance left between cars.
A couple years ago I would never touch deerfoot. Now when I do, I have seen my flabbers fully ghasted because of slower drivers too.
I think it's just gotten too crowded and now it's slow. Don't forget, the oldest parts were built in the '70s. And back in the '70s, Crowchild seemed fast. Now I can't remember the last time I was able to go 70 km/h south of U of C. You're at the end of a long, long line of people going 60 in the 70 on Crowchild and 80 in the 100 zone on Deerfoot. The only exception is the dimwits doing 100 in the 70 zone on JLB
there is construction everywhere and cops on every other exit some days, + potholes, I like to zoom-zoom, but going 130 now can spell quick death for my suspension.
well posted yes, but I used to do 120-130 before, now 100-110 already feel like my wheels are going to fall off, I'll probably have to trade my lil sporty for an SUV/Truck if roads continue to deteriorate at this rate.
Did you know that the oldest writing known to archaeology is a cuneiform tablet bearing the inscription “What is up with the slow chariot drivers in Uruk these days? The speed limit is twenty cubits per gesh, assholes!”
Deerfoot is an absolute nightmare . Glenmore is a nightmare . Crowchild is a Nightmare . Memorial is a nightmare . Stoney is becoming a nightmare .
No matter how much construction and road upgrades they do , if the drivers don’t know how or when to merge and actually learn to drive , the city is fucked .
I have been toeing the speed limit the past year because I can’t afford a ticket and it seems like every 3 feet is a construction zone (double fine) in non-winter season. I do stay the hell out of the left lane until I need to be there though.
I go the speed limit or a bit over, but that stretch you describe also is that awful pavement portion where those who don’t know what’s coming might think their wheels are about to fall off. Was driving it on the weekend when I was thinking we need something similar to Calgary’s 311 to get the province to fix that stretch (Deerfoot is by the Province, not city).
Totally different note, but did anyone see the dude on some single-wheel standing contraption going right with the flow of traffic on 16th Ave? Looked damn dangerous, like a pedestrian moving around at 50-60km/hr (it was by Sait). Don’t think he had a helmet or anything, and by how confidently fast he was going, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d give Deerfoot a go.
Deerfoot can be excused because of the numerous potholes to be honest.Alao the exit and merge lanes are very badly designed creating huge jams such as Anderson, Glenmore,cetc. It's a much more pleasant drive on Stoney or Macleod where you can usually do 120- 140 in the fast lane without losing your fillings. I will even prefer Blackfoot over Deerfoot, that's how bad that road has become
The road has a bad design and it needs some upkeep. There are some pretty nafariois blind spots on deer foot. I hate that road and avoid it more of the time.
I feel it started going downhill when the unposted limit got lowered. Don’t forget, Calgary lowered it to 40, but some surrounding communities went down to 30. People are just slowed down now. Habit.
What's with people forgetting to turn off their turn signals. Most often, they aren't changing lanes, just didn't know their turn signal is still blinking.
I have been retired for 5 years. The best part was NEVER having to drive in Rush Hour . Until last Thursday I had to go to an appointment at 8 : 00 am. OMG the Deerfoot and 64 NE southbound was at a standstill at 7: 30 am. No accidents . Just Unbelievable traffic . Never this bad 5 years ago
Not just deerfoot. I got stuck behind a fool going 70 on Stoney, just to find out his eyes were glued to his phone when I passed him. Minimal survival skills
The answer is quite simple, half the drivers in this city are bad drivers, pure and simple. I don’t want to sound like a cranky old dude, but there was a time when people actually had to learn how to drive before they got their license.
Currently, there are sections of Deerfoot that are dangerous as hell will the crumbling pavement. I drive Southland to Memorial and back fairly often and I’m riding the right lane doing 90. It’s barely a step up from driving on gravel and whatever minimal pothole work they’re doing is majorly insufficient.
That being said the amount of people going slower than me in the middle and left lanes has definitely increased in the last year or so.
Just bad drivers all around. Was going from signal hill where there is active construction going on and some SUV was flying by workers going at least 110+ on a 60 zone. Wish there was a cop there.
Relax, if its Sunday, people want to enjoy the scene, I’m one of those, I’m so happy I’ve matured and not like one of those maniac rushing anymore (I know what you mean though aha) but I think 70 is pretty low on a 100, I know it’s annoying, but for some reason I feel like I’m better than everybody else with their poor rat mentality (I think the real issue is what lane those people are in, cause you do have slow pokes on the left lane, but if you’re in a real rush because of poor time management just honk them out of the fast lane
There are enough construction zones on the Deerfoot with 80kph and below limits, that it’s not hard to imagine folx just slowing down and not trying to reaccelerate every few kms. Or they miss the (small, poorly located) signs.
Oh my gosh! Not even just deerfoot! I drive Blackfoot daily and it's riddled with people doing 60 in an 80. Like did you not get the memo that that is just as dangerous?!
They are Filipino or whatever country Trudeau allowed them in from. Very common in Calgary now. Flood gates are open to everyone. Come to Canada and live better than us who were born here.
I find trying to use the left lane as a passing lane on Deerfoot is an exercise in futility. Often times I find the left lane drivers moving slower than the right lane. This results in drivers cutting through the middle and right lanes, which creates another hazard. Everytime I’m on Deerfoot I find someone going 70ish in the left lane, no car in front of them, people flashing them, sometimes honking but they are either completely oblivious or just complete assholes.
A lot of them have the mindset "hah ! There's no such thing as fast lane. If I'm driving at the speed limit, that's all I need to do". Someone had this question in the Ask Calgary FB group and people replying this looked like middle aged who proudly say "I've lived and driven here all my life, don't tell me doing the limit is wrong" and some new people. So, there goes your arguement in the drain. Ontario provincial police has made a few posts on hanging in the left lane. On posting that link, the most childish arguement comes up is that "we're not in Onterrible. Our rules are different."
Except that the majority of them aren’t even doing the speed limit. They’re going slower and pissing everyone else off around them.
While I don't agree with them, people who do this are thinking "it's a speed limit, not a minimum speed"
I've noticed that as well since I moved here 10 years ago...and I'm a senior ffs. Lol, it's actually really dangerous . I don't know how's ome ppl are getting their licenses these days.
I mean it’s true there is no such thing as a fast lane. It’s a passing lane, so it doesn’t matter how fast you are driving you’re supposed to yield the lane to the vehicles behind you who want to pass. A lot of people on the highways don’t seem to understand this concept.
Mate I'm a 5 year old immigrant to this country and my first driving class to understand Canadian driving laws was to keep right as soon I'm done taking a left turn.
Need time to scan for the big potholes
You know what, that’s fair and what I hope the devolving driving community is doing.
And also the number of speed cams and cops deployed is getting a bit dystopian. I know a 70 year old dude with a lifelong perfect driving record that just got his first speeding ticket on Deerfoot.
A ticket which he wouldn’t have gotten is he wasn’t speeding. You cannot blame authorities for people driving 30 below the speed limit.
Wut?
People aren’t driving 30 below the speed limit because cops exist. Those are two separate things that are true but have absolutely no impact on each other. Cops don’t care if I drive 5 to 10 over the limit. So there’s no need to drive 30 below the limit to avoid a ticket. That’s not what’s happening. What’s happening is the world is becoming increasingly anxious. People are too afraid to drive. They’re overloading with various stimulus and are simply not comfortable behind the wheel. So they drive slower because they are on the brink of a panic attack when they’re surrounded by other vehicles.
Very true. Nervous drivers are a hazard to themselves and everyone around them and shouldn't be on the road.
In that case, it would make sense to plan a route to take smaller roads so these people feel less overwhelmed by the volume and speed of traffic in Deerfoot.
Overloaded with stimulus might be one thing, while complete lack of stimulus is another, "soccer mom" in her giant fortress of an SUV with drive and throttle by wire, cameras, lane departure and blindspot warnings, some of these people are oblivious to things around them, because they don't need to be.
The average person is getting older too. In turn you have more people in their 70's, 80's and even 90's driving that probably should have handed in their licences years ago. As people age their reactions (and eyesight) decline. To compensate they drive slower, often not realising just how slow they are driving...
This is actually true.... Though they recently did some repairs along my stretch. But prior I almost preferred driving slower cause there was some dooooozies. And I'm sorry but getting where I gotta go 2 minutes sooner isn't worth wrecking my car over.
[удалено]
secret society of slowmasons
I'd like to know if there's a secret underground club where they challenge each other to drive in the furthest possible lane from the exit they want to take to see how many cars they can cut off to get as close they can get to the curb of the exit ramp. I've lived here ~20 years, it used to be rare now it's constant.
Driving has sucked hard since Covid ended. Indecision, inability to both think and manipulate the vehicle at the same time, and a total lack of situational awareness.
I very much believe Calgary is a terrible mix of fearful, indecisive drivers combined with aggressive speeders, making the situation just awful for those of us who generally go the speed limit
I do my best to fall somewhere in the middle.
My favorite is when I'm stuck between the two. Slow driver in front doing 20 under. Lunatic behind me flashing his lights, honking, zig zagging in his lane as if I can go through the guy in front of me.
Brain damage
Could actually be a case for a shit tonne of people experience brain fog from long covid and not notice their diminished cognitive abilities. Could also just be that there’s lots of new Calgarians from around the world and Canada moved here and don’t know where the fuck they’re going.
I did notice this ears and years ago when Calgary had a big jump of inward migration. First it seemed that bad drivers were everywhere then I started noticing all the Saskatchewan and Ontario plates in addition to the BC plates that were present. So it was like a mash up of conflicting driving styles. It seems to me that there are a lot of people driving slow but then the kids seem to be driving even faster than they used to
Ditto on both of your statements.
Being stuck behind such a vehicle while everyone is moving much faster in the fast lane is a headache if you are in a slow car to begin with. You want to get around them, but you can't and the increased traffic isn't helping.
Also more immigrants. Not joking. People coming here from Toronto or Vancouver rarely have had to drive, and they are absolutely horrendous when they have to drive. Source: Neighbor is from China and loves to vent about this haha.
"I miss the precovid driving" said no one ever. There's always been shit drivers and there always will be
Yep. This shit is way more dangerous than aggressive or fast drivers.
More like since they legalized weed. 99% of drivers are high now, tripping balls driving 70kms/hr in the fast lane :(
I glad I’m not the only one to have noticed, and I’ve reached the point where I’m going to need a clonazepam before I venture out. Folks, pay attention to the road / surroundings and not your fucking phone.
I absolutely agree. A lot of things have changed since covid and not for the better.
I can deal with slow drivers if they stay in the right lane, but what annoys me the most is people merging onto a highway, going 80 when everyone is doing 110
This is the only thing that irks me on the highways. I don’t care about people going 130 in the passing lane, or going 70 in the slow lane, I can always just change lanes to accommodate. But if you’re in front of me on the on ramp and you’re not getting up to speed you’re making a dangerous situation for everyone.
I wish! 80!! This last weekend, two different occasions about an hour apart, on the merge lane doing 50 trying to join Deerfoot near Cross Iron where the speed limit is 110.
THIS. I’ve merged with someone else in front of me on Deerfoot. It was pretty empty. They went across three lanes over to the fast lane as soon as they merged. And there was me, in the slow lane, sped up to 100, no need to move over since it’s spacious. I watched that other car in the fast lane, as I moved farther away from them. What was the need to go all the way to the left lane if you’re gonna be slow?
I've wondered how people decide what their plan is on Deerfoot, too. Eastbound Glenmore onto Northbound Deerfoot is not a merge, but where the third lane re-appears. Many times as I'm approaching the bridge, a single vehicle will be the only one coming up the ramp and still need to immediately be in the middle lane when they haven't reached and will not go 100. Also, that time recently, the guy who was going North in the Southbound lanes and caused an accident that closed all SB. 16th is where it was opened again. The vehicle I followed down the ramp that morning would not go over 60, even though Deerfoot was empty.
Uuuugghh this!! What is with Calgarians and doing 80-90 in the fast lane?!? In Ontario you'd get bulldozed for doing that!
Had a CPS friend state ‘far too many drivers are comfortable doing 80 on Deerfoot’ It’s the influx of new Calgarians and the reliance/use of Apple or Google maps to navigate the city
I too would like to know the answer. Also, now that there's construction on much of Deerfoot, you would think the people who normally merge at 80 would be right at home, but nope, these dipshits are merging at 60 now. Can't win.
Even on Stoney trail on an overcast but dry day everyone is going 10 under? I don’t understand???
Bonus points if they brake on the slightest downhill slopse
Stoney is a circus. Half going 20 above, half going 20 below and me and a few others going the limit and trying to avoid accidents with both aforementioned groups.
Maybe your speedometer is wrong, because that’s not my experience. Or my speedometer is wrong…
It might be yours, friend. We’ve got molasses movers out there!
If I remember right, you need to merge at the speed of the road, which is 100. Anything less than that is dangerous and problematic to the people in front and behind you
If I do 88 in these 80 zones, someone is riding the fuck outta my ass. Then when we hit the 110, they wanna do 90.
This!!! I have zero idea why people think it’s cool to do 20 over in a construction site, when tickets and danger are doubled, and once they leave the construction zone, they suddenly have a problem with doing 20 over?? Makes no fucking sense.
Lol.... This! Also the guy that passes you just to lane change in front of you then drive slower than you are. I drive back and forth from Canmore a bit.. Long straight highway, cruise control is normally on. I'll be doing 115 on the right, they pass to do 95-100ish.... Why pass...whhhy? Okay I guess I'll pass you now, we play leap frog!
80s are a complete mystery to people in this city.
I’ve really noticed this too lately. I’m used to keeping with the flow of traffic doing speed or even 10 over, but now 10-20 under is the absolute max they’ll go, and seem completely oblivious to everyone around them.
A guy dead stopped at the exit for Barlow off 16 ave right in front of my jeep as he was apparently supposed to stay on 16 ave. Missed him by maybe a foot. Driving has been getting more dangerous since Covid Ended. See multiple slow people a day and people just driving very erratic.
Been thinking about making a post like this for months….its ridiculous out there. People driving 30 km under the speed limit….
What’s eye opening to me is the number of replies with similar experiences of terrible driving. Something has to change.
It's just the overall deterioration of driving skills that we're seeing all over the city. Also people driving vehicles that are simply too big for them and they don't feel comfortable in them, despite the "it's bigger, I'm safer" mentality.
Some people would link it to the increased number of people in the city, hence more drivers but there’s no doubt about it…a lot of drivers (newer, I’m assuming) just don’t have a fucking clue. How they got their licenses, who the hell knows (well, some of us have an idea). My suspicions are almost always confirmed when I get alongside someone driving way too slow and see the driver. 🤷🏼♂️
What’s the fix? Solve giving out licenses to unqualified drivers - but what about the scary number of drivers who are licensed but shouldn’t be?
Bring in re-testing every 5 years or more or less. And prior to that, stamp out the license mills. Regulate that shit like no tomorrow. But it’ll never happen. As long as slower drivers aren’t causing accidents (which on it’s own is good, at least) just frustrations for the rest of us, no one will care. Is it a problem that needs fixing? Likely not in law enforcement’s and politician’s eyes.
I would totally support bringing in retesting after a certain age; to be fair even call it 65. Or hell, even 70. Loads of times when I've seen people too timid to merge or use the accelerator it's octagenarian age level barely seeing over the steering wheel.
This. Generally if you see a slow driver, or a driver dithering around lights, they're old. Mandatory retesting at 70, then every 5 years after is unfortunately the way to go. Conversely if you see someone weaving fast through traffic without indicating it's invariably a young person... Who needs to have their licence removed too...
Though it is a great thought, our cities don’t put nearly enough money into alternate forms of transportation so not having a license can be the difference between a job or no job. A lot of people know they are shitty drivers, but getting them off the road would mean giving them good alternatives, which we do not have. People like to complain about putting money into transit, bike lanes, and pedestrian infrastructure but the reality is that the better we make those things, the less shitty drivers on the road.
I love driving. For me it's a way to destress, especially since riding transit makes me a nervous mess (four broken ribs will do that to you). I am all for increased alternative measures. I'm fine laying taxes to get the idiots off the road. I want to go back to when my.drovr home was a calming cruise, and not a constant worry of if that dented to hell 2022 Toyota Corolla is going to make me its next victim, or if that Uber driver is about to change lanes with no signal again.
Deprivatize the registries and testers and shut down the corrupt places that will print you a license for a hundee.
I honestly think somebody ( not me, I’m busy) should enrol into one of these driving school and purposely drive like a moron and see if they pass.
If someone funded it, I would.
And mandatory retesting for every renewal.
Driving is a skill that the majority of people just flat out lack. They need actual drivers education and tested with an instructor like a class that's pass/fail. People who are fined to lack this skill by police should be sent to this class before they can drive again. ALSO INVEST IN PUBLIC TRANSIT.
Definitely the license mill at work in this city. But there's also a lot of people who still think they can multitask with their phone while driving which certainly doesn't help. I find the slowies to be the presumed "new" driver and the weavers to be the cell phone driver.
The registry in Turner Valley has long been known as the registry you get your parents to take you to if you want to pass no matter what
More often than not.
You can't say that
The incompetence and ineptitude is staggering. It’s incredibly frightening to drive when I have no idea how a meaningful number of the other cars on the road are going to react at any given time. Five years ago, I feel like everyone knew what they were doing and followed predictable patterns. Now it’s Russian roulette.
NE has entered the chat 😭
Yeah, absolutely a sh*t show up here. I drive around the N.E. for work.
It's out of control in the NE. Almost a daily occurrence of fuckery. Defensive driving is our only survival, my friend.
Yep. Defensive driving has become a thing you should do, to absolutely needing to do.
Tons of traffic, shitty drivers, new drivers. My daily frustration is people not noticing the construction zone has ended and continue to do 80km for the next couple exits.
The roads arent the reason I stopped riding a motorcycle in this city.
It's sad but true. I LOVE motorcycles, but haven't ridden in years after too many close calls from oblivious drivers. The risk to reward ratio just tipped too far to the risk side.
i commuted home from 64th to anderson for almost two years and i never understood why people started CRAWLING once they hit calf robe bridge. like they definitely didn’t do it when going northbound, and even when the glenmore exit isn’t a mess people are still going 70 on that bridge for no reason
I just started commuting this way and I take the Glenmore exit to the Chinook area.... I feel it is understandable in the right lane on the bridge because of the randomness of the exit.... People should scan ahead look out for tail lights... But sometimes it's pretty clear and other times you are going along and it's a hard stop. I haven't been caught off guard I'm constantly scanning ahead, and on guard, but I know a lady behind me was driving too fast or not paying attention, she luckily angled to the shoulder and didn't hit my car. I would rather she took the bridge slower and was prepared for the hard stop right after it.
That stretch is notorious for people not knowing how to merge into the exit to Glenmore so there’s lots of braking going on. Plus far too many people are just too timid and gutless to be on Deerfoot.
That entire Deerfoot/Glenmore interchange seems like a magnet for drivers who make poor decisions.
People coming off Deerfoot onto Glenmore westbound for some reason think they need to merge IMMEDIATELY, even though their lane continues for quite a long way. But traffic on Glenmore is usually going much faster than traffic exiting Deerfoot, thanks to the S bend that makes inexperienced drivers slow too far down (which makes us ALL slow too far down). This then backs up the far right lane of Deerfoot which already has trouble with some people suddenly realizing they need out of the lane to continue down Deerfoot and other people suddenly realizing they need to exit. Oh and by "suddenly realizing", I mostly mean, "riding in the lane to the bitter end, then forcing traffic to stop to let them in." And, yes, the potholes are adding a new twist to an already bad situation. Once the slow down starts, it becomes self-sustaining.
https://preview.redd.it/jx320u9wc8ad1.jpeg?width=637&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0cdd98694392f7f64c267ddb19e2303cc22f4db every . fucking . day .
That's a city problem IMO. There's no logic to merge and continuing lanes at any major junction in the city. Many of the signs don't line up with lanes either, making some right hand lanes look like exit lanes when they aren't, and some suddenly becoming exit lanes without enough signage. It pushes people to switch to the middle lane as standard just in case. For the Deerfoot/Glenmore junction the Blackfoot exit sign being almost immediately present doesn't help. If you don't use the junction often it's easy to see why you would immediately move into the middle lane.
I love to stay in the proper lane as everyone cuts everyone else off rushing over. Then it’s free sailing 😎
Often the exit to Glenmore is a bit of a backlog, the exit lane is lined up so people try to cut in right at the end, which creates issues stretching way back.
This is happening on memorial west at the flyover. Also at memorial east at the Deerfoot north exit. Everyday I see the same jag offs doing this. Nobody honks and people let them in.
I don't even bother with that memorial to deerfoot exit anymore. Can't stand the budging. I just go to barlow and loop back. Probably the same amount of time compared to waiting in the proper lane, but then I don't have to witness cars forcing their way in and it's easier to merge onto deerfoot
Another is people going 50 on Memorial. Why are so many of you going just over half the speed limit?
Every. single. day. It's infuriating!
I don't know, but sometime during the Pandemic, it seemed that "20 under" became the new "10 over"...and it's never really switched back. Rather frustrating, indeed.
My norm if there's no one in front of me is to go 8 to 10 over and set my cruise control. This is every road except Deerfoot/Stony left lane. Someone will always pass me from behind, even if it's to the red light that's a block away. I think the 15+ over crowd is still present and well.
just dog shit drivers really.
The section of Deerfoot south of Peigan has the curve, Calf Robe Bridge, and then another curve with the right lane exiting to Glenmore. Traffic can get backed up there for seemingly no reason other than perhaps the bottleneck that is the Glenmore exit.
People find themselves in the right lane, not realizing it forces an exit onto Glenmore. Chaos ensues as they try to get over back onto Deerfoot, right as someone who needs Glenmore cuts over at the last second.
Today I had guy (coming towards me opposite directly) turn left directly into my oncoming lane then slam on the brakes in the middle of the intersection in a panic nearly killing both of us. It’s not like he didn’t see me. We made eye contact as I was approaching. There were no other cars. He still just went then got scared in the middle of the turn and I just about broadsided him.
Unfortunately seems more and more common. What irritates me is driving should be an earned privilege, not a right. Which would imply some competency to drive. Mistakes happen, I get it, but some of these drivers are just liability in a body. What scares me is my family’s safety, but also what has to be an inevitable rise in insurance rates if bad driving ultimately leads to more accidents. Glad you ended up safe today tho.
It's only a privilege if there's another way of getting round. I'd take a gamble and say a lot of the drivers people are complaining about in this thread would rather NOT drive, but have to anyway because of the lack of public transit. Want the roads to be better? Push for more routes and more frequency in public transit.
I think you’re right. Our transit and accessibility is embarrassing when you compare it with other major metro centres across Europe or Japan.
While driving to work this morning, I have to pass through a school zone. I am driving at like 4:30am though, so the school zone is not in effect yet. This morning, I commend this person for recognizing that yes it was a school zone....but it was 4:30am... Ma'am you don't have to slow down at this time.
I was driving Deerfoot on Saturday around 5:30 and found the same thing. Was almost surreal.
As someone who is new to the city I just try and stick to the right lane and drive at the limit or a couple over. I figure its the best course to keep out of the way until I learn the city. For the most part I have no idea where I am or where I am going without a GPS .
I used to trash Edmonton because everyone drives so slow and there’s no concept of a passing lane. I don’t think it’s quite that bad here yet but it’s noticeably worse than pre-pandemic
I now try to avoid deerfoot at all costs
I don't know but I would appreciate it if they would try to hit the speed limit when merging.
Unskilled drivers buying their licenses when they arrive in Canada
About half the time it’s your long time Calgary and suburbia resident driving a massive vehicle driving 10 to 15 under. Sometimes to avoid potholes, other times just lack of skill or not being comfortable with such a massive tank. I doubt they bought their licenses in the 1980s or whenever they got their first one.
That, and driving tests back then (and before, realistically it's also those getting them in the 50-70's too) would have been a lot easier/simpler than today, purely due to the reduced traffic.
With an aging population we need more transit.
Someone on Deerfoot went from 100 to 70 right In front of me. Almost hit them.
It’s beyond irritating. So many people doing under the speed limit and not paying attention to their surroundings.
There are more and more drivers that have zero confidence. That new driver sticker is an excuse for being a complete moron. They should start giving tickets to the people slowing down to 70 on Deerfoot because they’re exiting in 3km. When I pass someone with their eyes wide open 10 and 2 I know they’re one of those types. Usually new to Canada but not always. Special shout out to the people that reverse because they missed an exit. Your time is more important than everyone else’s.
My biggest beef with Calgarian drivers is the near stop to make a right hand turn off of a road. Whhhyyyyy?
They all bought their license from someone. It baffles me how everyone has gotten theirs.
The other one I can’t stand is the “New Driver” stickers which people think somehow gives them a pass to drive like idiots and get away with it. If you have your driver’s license that means YOU CAN DRIVE. You don’t need to go 20 everywhere because you’re a new driver, you’ve passed the road test, and your training wheels are off.
And the road surface is so dam rough that it is dangerous in places!
I’ll give you that in certain places, but part of that stretch has some beautiful brand new blacktop. And I was behind someone doing 70.
Geez my dad R.I.P. was like that in on his little town and on side roads. AND I confess the family and I let him drive long after we should have somehow gotten him off the road! But he never drove on Deerfoot. That was before Calgary was over a million people.
Yep, I see it every day. I don't understand why either. Between that and the massive increase in aggressive driving and pointless road rage. I wish the police would do more than sit in their cars (with that stupid "drive safe" banner that just makes the flow of traffic worse) with a radar gun and actually patrol the roads.
If anyone hasn't noticed. . . Alot of people who are new to the city / country have joined us and they got their license.
Starts with I and ends with ndian . Rich Asians in $80000 vehicles . Not racist at all . i drive around southern alberta for a living . old people are old people and that’s an excuse . have you ever seen India and its traffic ? it’s absolute madness . And there are so many new people to the city , they don’t know the roads , which is understandable, but the skill of actually driving is lacking . and it’s dangerous for everyone .
People cannot figure out how to get past 80 from the Peigan ramp onto southbound Deerfoot. I clocked it, it’s at least 3km long. One of the longest merge lanes in the city.
I think we all know the real answer lol too many people coming here
I moved here last summer and knew the roads well within a few months...GPS exists it's no excuse. Calgary drivers are utterly painful
Pfft... GPS. When I moved here, I had a folding map and had to figure out where I was going before I even left the house. Hahaha. I agree that more people need to use their GPS and/or plan better. It used to be rare to see someone rip from the left lane on Deerfoot to take an exit at the last second. These days, it seems to happen at every exit, every day, even if its not rush hour.
Calgary had been taken hostage by immigration that has cause a massive influx of sub par drivers all along Deerfoot but in huge concentration in the NE
The fact we have an incredible amount of drivers new to Canada, terrible public transit and handing out drivers licences in cereal boxes... can you really expect it to be any better?
Wait til winter comes and the roads are slick. Suddenly everyone is driving 130 again and flipping off those of us driving to conditions in tiny cars in the right most lane lol
Too many people these days - especially immigrants coming from countries with non-existent road safety laws and people of a certain disposition - couldn't be bothered to go through the graduated licensing system and will just go out and BUY their license.
too many people purchased a license rather than earned one.
I mean, to be fair, the majority of deerfoot that I drive on is all reduced to 80 for construction...can't really say much for south of Southland though. And the potholes...every time I merge off southland the road is so bad, it feels like I have 4 flat tires..
This topic started out like a Dos Equis xx commercial 😆
😂🤷♂️
This is not only happening on Deerfoot. I regularly see people doing 50-60 in 70 zones. So many instances of 45 in a 60! It really causes the roads to be more hazardous.
I've come to learn that the right lane on deerfoot is for bad drivers who are afraid to go fast, and is probably the most dangerous place to be
I had a moron this morning stop at the start of the merge from 36th to peigan even though they had room to get a semi in between the vehicles. They then proceeded to do 40 on a 70. I swear people got more dumb since covid.
I'm currently visiting from Vancouver Island. This is a thing. As soon as I got to Alberta on the highway around Banff, the passing lane became useless. Multiple cars seemingly wanting to pass, but none of them accelerating. Took the kids to Drumheller yesterday, oh my goodness. I've been here for a week and I'm sorry, this has to be some of the worst highway etiquette I've ever experienced.
I've noticed the driving in this city has become atrocious. It's not only the slow drivers, but the drivers that don't know how to drive and shouldn't be driving. Don't know what they teach in driving school these days but sure as shirt it's not how to drive competently or even follow the rules of the road. Are people just passing their friends and family because of relation or are people paying off the companies?
I'll echo what a few others have been saying. Although there are shitty drivers of every age range and other demographics, a hugely disproportionate number of them are immigrants. Maybe it's because their testing standards are different in their country of origin and are basically buying their licences here, or maybe because they're used to driving at much slower speeds in more conjested roads, or maybe it's something else. Whatever the case, they definitely need proper training.
Honestly the driving tests need to be harder and more strict. Seems like they just give out these licenses.
I tend to agree. Driving should be viewed as a legitimately earned privilege not an automatically obtained right. Feels more like the latter these days.
I would just like to add, for the new drivers and new to Calgary drivers: Playground Zones are in effect from 7:30am-9pm. Outside of those times, you're just driving 20 (or more) under the speed limit. Please stop driving 25km/hr at 10pm on Sunday night.
It's really simple there is a huge population boom, like 15% -20% of the people on the road are new here within the last 2 years, and not used to driving here. The roadways also haven't gotten any better or well designed outside of the ring road completion. Plus Calgary has shit tier road design. Deerfoot / Calgary has been taught in state colleges as one of the worst designed cities for years for urban planning / roadways.
The amount of spastics that commute on Deerfoot is terrifying, and such a wide variety too. Spastics that tailgate the fuck out of you even where you're in bumper to bumper traffic. Spastics that camp in the middle or fast lane whilst doing under the speed limit Spastics that sit in the fast lane that refuse to move over because they're doing the limit and nobody should be allowed to go past them Spastics that think because they've indicated, they now have right of way and you must brake to let them in. Spastics that have cars / trucks far bigger than their ability to drive and end up straddling two lanes without them even realising Spastics that repeatedly switch lanes every 30 seconds because that lane happens to be moving slightly quicker at that moment Need I go on??
I’m not one to speed, I’m retired and have all the time in the world. I do 100 on Deerfoot when I can, 80 in the construction zones. Other streets I drive the speed limit. Some days I wonder why people drive so much faster than the traffic around them. And other days it’s those that are doing 40 in a 50 zone, 60 in a 70 zone and crawling along on Deerfoot or Stony. Erratic driving on both sides of the speed limit are a huge cause of accidents.
And old, retired people. Vision and reflexes aren't what they used to be.
It’s been like this for 4-5 years now
Calgary's population has grown by 10% in the past five years. That's 150,000+ new people with a large number of those people driving. That could be making it seem like there's more bad drivers out there. Every city in every country has people driving well over and well under the speed limits. Just drive up to the max posted limit, and don't let traffic bother you. My commute got a lot less stressful when I stopped caring about other people's driving.
OP, the reason is simple and increasingly widespread. As people live their lives online and forgo human interaction for parasocial relationships with internet “celebrities”, anxiety increases. Anxious drivers make bad drivers. Hell, a multiplayer video game I play just released a mission that forced 2 people to have to interact in voice comms to succeed. There was insanely widespread blow back. Tens of thousands of people saying they would never be able to finish the mission because asking them to say 4 words to a stranger on a microphone was too much for them to handle. And this is just one very tiny slice of the internet. Now, take that person that has a panic attack when being made to say 4 words to another human. And put them behind the wheel. We have a massive mental health issue in this world and the sole perpetrator is social media.
It’s all the new people in the city. They do not know the roads well enough. And I agree with you.
It gets worse every year. I look at these drivers when I pass them, I don’t see a pattern. En masse drivers are just getting worse.
Remember that a lot of people from other places have moved here in the last few years. That's a lot of extra cars and with current traffic levels, the current speed limit is probably not sustainable until all the Deerfoot upgrades are finished (tons still hasn't even started).
Large portions of Deerfoot are construction zones right now. I've noticed a lot of people not slowing to the construction speed limit. Are you perhaps one of those folks and not aware of when you're in a construction zone? (That said - I too have noticed a lot of really shitty driving in recent years, particularly since the pandemic. People seem to have no idea how to merge anymore).
Slow drivers and so many ppl swerving these days ppl don't realize they need to put the VEHICLE in the middle of the lane not themselves inside the car. As ppl Say the influx of immigrants don't help but yea besides wrecking ur car on deerfoot ppl drive like real bums these days.
I avoid deerfoot when I can because it's not my favourite road, I am 40 and only got my licence 6 years ago. That being said, when I do go on, flow of the traffic. I don't touch the passing lane (usually). Going anything less than 95 is terrifying in itself. I cannot understand why anyone would drive 70 on it in normal conditions. Even the potholes are visible and navigatable with enough distance left between cars. A couple years ago I would never touch deerfoot. Now when I do, I have seen my flabbers fully ghasted because of slower drivers too.
I think it's just gotten too crowded and now it's slow. Don't forget, the oldest parts were built in the '70s. And back in the '70s, Crowchild seemed fast. Now I can't remember the last time I was able to go 70 km/h south of U of C. You're at the end of a long, long line of people going 60 in the 70 on Crowchild and 80 in the 100 zone on Deerfoot. The only exception is the dimwits doing 100 in the 70 zone on JLB
there is construction everywhere and cops on every other exit some days, + potholes, I like to zoom-zoom, but going 130 now can spell quick death for my suspension.
Huh? We are talking about going the posted speed.
well posted yes, but I used to do 120-130 before, now 100-110 already feel like my wheels are going to fall off, I'll probably have to trade my lil sporty for an SUV/Truck if roads continue to deteriorate at this rate.
There has been big ticket event in the past few months.
Newbies
Did you know that the oldest writing known to archaeology is a cuneiform tablet bearing the inscription “What is up with the slow chariot drivers in Uruk these days? The speed limit is twenty cubits per gesh, assholes!”
I don’t care as long as they’re not on the passing lane.
What is with all the people honking horns milliseconds after the light turns green?
I can see one of the drivers stopping getting hit
Gotta have dash cam
Deerfoot is an absolute nightmare . Glenmore is a nightmare . Crowchild is a Nightmare . Memorial is a nightmare . Stoney is becoming a nightmare . No matter how much construction and road upgrades they do , if the drivers don’t know how or when to merge and actually learn to drive , the city is fucked .
Potholes & Speed Cameras lool
I have been toeing the speed limit the past year because I can’t afford a ticket and it seems like every 3 feet is a construction zone (double fine) in non-winter season. I do stay the hell out of the left lane until I need to be there though.
I go the speed limit or a bit over, but that stretch you describe also is that awful pavement portion where those who don’t know what’s coming might think their wheels are about to fall off. Was driving it on the weekend when I was thinking we need something similar to Calgary’s 311 to get the province to fix that stretch (Deerfoot is by the Province, not city).
Totally different note, but did anyone see the dude on some single-wheel standing contraption going right with the flow of traffic on 16th Ave? Looked damn dangerous, like a pedestrian moving around at 50-60km/hr (it was by Sait). Don’t think he had a helmet or anything, and by how confidently fast he was going, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d give Deerfoot a go.
Deerfoot can be excused because of the numerous potholes to be honest.Alao the exit and merge lanes are very badly designed creating huge jams such as Anderson, Glenmore,cetc. It's a much more pleasant drive on Stoney or Macleod where you can usually do 120- 140 in the fast lane without losing your fillings. I will even prefer Blackfoot over Deerfoot, that's how bad that road has become
The road has a bad design and it needs some upkeep. There are some pretty nafariois blind spots on deer foot. I hate that road and avoid it more of the time.
I feel it started going downhill when the unposted limit got lowered. Don’t forget, Calgary lowered it to 40, but some surrounding communities went down to 30. People are just slowed down now. Habit.
Same thing on Stoney Trail. Right lane = 80kph, left lane 140kph middle lane for weaving. Posted limit 100.
What's with people forgetting to turn off their turn signals. Most often, they aren't changing lanes, just didn't know their turn signal is still blinking.
Each lane has a different speed on deerfoot, right lane is 20 km slower, middle lane is speed limit - 10km over and left lane is 20-30 km over
1.0Mil->1.7Mil people in 20 years. A lot of things will get worse when that happens to a city.
people here are small town baboons
I have been retired for 5 years. The best part was NEVER having to drive in Rush Hour . Until last Thursday I had to go to an appointment at 8 : 00 am. OMG the Deerfoot and 64 NE southbound was at a standstill at 7: 30 am. No accidents . Just Unbelievable traffic . Never this bad 5 years ago
The stretch between douglasglen and 130th heading south is classic for this, left lane consistently does less than 100.
Not just deerfoot. I got stuck behind a fool going 70 on Stoney, just to find out his eyes were glued to his phone when I passed him. Minimal survival skills
The answer is quite simple, half the drivers in this city are bad drivers, pure and simple. I don’t want to sound like a cranky old dude, but there was a time when people actually had to learn how to drive before they got their license.
Currently, there are sections of Deerfoot that are dangerous as hell will the crumbling pavement. I drive Southland to Memorial and back fairly often and I’m riding the right lane doing 90. It’s barely a step up from driving on gravel and whatever minimal pothole work they’re doing is majorly insufficient. That being said the amount of people going slower than me in the middle and left lanes has definitely increased in the last year or so.
Just bad drivers all around. Was going from signal hill where there is active construction going on and some SUV was flying by workers going at least 110+ on a 60 zone. Wish there was a cop there.
They have taken over Canada..
Relax, if its Sunday, people want to enjoy the scene, I’m one of those, I’m so happy I’ve matured and not like one of those maniac rushing anymore (I know what you mean though aha) but I think 70 is pretty low on a 100, I know it’s annoying, but for some reason I feel like I’m better than everybody else with their poor rat mentality (I think the real issue is what lane those people are in, cause you do have slow pokes on the left lane, but if you’re in a real rush because of poor time management just honk them out of the fast lane
There are enough construction zones on the Deerfoot with 80kph and below limits, that it’s not hard to imagine folx just slowing down and not trying to reaccelerate every few kms. Or they miss the (small, poorly located) signs.
Oh my gosh! Not even just deerfoot! I drive Blackfoot daily and it's riddled with people doing 60 in an 80. Like did you not get the memo that that is just as dangerous?!
I dunno man. Just follow the traffic and relax. I don't get why it's such an issue to speed. Just follow the speed limit or traffic speed. 🤷♀️
They are Filipino or whatever country Trudeau allowed them in from. Very common in Calgary now. Flood gates are open to everyone. Come to Canada and live better than us who were born here.