Oh, American Drivers...
If there's anything you should know about American drivers, it's that they're big, bold, and brash. Emphasis on the last one. We get it, Americans love their cars, and they're (more than) confident about their driving skills, but they sometimes rub that in your face a little too much. Suffice to say, you'll instantly know when you're on the road with one of the folks from the red, white, and blue. You might even question how they ever got their licenses...
1. Being Aggressive on the Road
We're not saying all do, but some American drivers seem to take every minor inconvenience personally. Try to merge in front of them? They'll probably speed up just to cut off your attempt. Of course, this kind of aggression only makes an already stressful commute even more unpleasant.
2. Driving Oversized Vehicles
Another thing people hate about American drivers? They somehow have a fondness for massive pickup trucks and SUVs. In fact, the bigger the ride, the better. Who wants a puny two-seater sedan? Nope. Americans want the oversized cars that take up way too much space and obstruct visibility.
3. Putting Offensive Bumper Stickers on Their Cars
There's nothing wrong with giving your vehicle a little more pizzazz, but some Americans take their bumper stickers a tad too far. From vulgar jokes to aggressive political statements, it's almost like they're determined to offend as many people as possible.
4. Refusing to Use Their Turn Signals
Because American drivers insist they're above everyone else on the road, they may forgo using their indicators. After all, why give people a heads-up when you're set on doing whatever you want, anyway? If other drivers have to constantly anticipate your movements, so be it.
5. Tailgating Other Vehicles
Apparently, maintaining a reasonable following distance is too much to ask of American drivers, especially when they're impatient to get somewhere. If you don't speed up, they're only going to inch closer and closer to your bumper. That, or they'll honk at you until you give in.
6. Treating Speed Limits as Suggestions
What do American drivers love if not speeding? Even on regular city roads, they're often traveling well above the posted speed limit and may even get annoyed when others actually follow the rules. After all, what are you doing not flooring the accelerator and wasting everyone's time?
7. Having Extremely Loud Cars
Yep, not only do Americans love big cars, they also love loud cars. The louder and noisier it is, the better. They'll even modify their exhaust systems just to crank up the decibels on it. Unfortunately, that means everyone else has to listen to those annoying mods every time the engine revs.
8. Being Obsessed with Honking
If American drivers aren't cursing you off the road, they're honking you off the road. Sure, car horns are supposed to warn others about potential dangers, not be abused, but if you take too long to move when the light turns green, you're getting a blast.
9. Driving While Distracted by Their Phones
Despite being warned of the dangers and phone use being prohibited behind the wheel, that hasn't stopped American drivers from being distracted by—what else?—on the roads. If it's not their phones, it's their giant Tesla screens. Either way, they're always attempting to multitask when they shouldn't be.
10. Taking Up Multiple Parking Spaces
Because Americans love big cars, their vehicles are also always taking up entire parking spaces. They might even sometimes park diagonally across the lines, or have their oversized truck extend into neighboring spots! Either way, it's annoying and inconsiderate.
11. Having Terrible Road Rage
Aggressive driving is frustrating enough, but American motorists take it a step further by escalating every minor disagreement into full-blown confrontations. Honk once at them, and you can be sure they're rolling down their windows to give you a piece of their minds.
12. Looking Down on People Who Drive Small Cars
Again, since Americans think bigger automatically means better, anyone driving a compact car must be missing out. And if you're a man driving a tiny sedan... you'll probably be judged. Even if your choice is perfectly suited to your needs, American folks still feel the need to make fun of smaller vehicles for lacking power or road presence.
13. Blinding Everyone with Their Headlights
Not only are American drivers blasting your ears out with their constant honking and annoying exhaust mods, they're also blinding you with their exceptionally bright headlights. It doesn't matter that they shouldn't—they'll still use their high beams unnecessarily or install poor aftermarket lights.
14. Making Fun of People Who Can't Drive Manual
Though automatic transmissions dominate the American market, the "true" enthusiasts will still rub it in your face if they know how to drive stick and you don't. They might even insist that automatic drivers aren't "real" drivers, despite the fact that which car you drive has little to do with your overall driving ability.
15. Driving Everywhere, Even for Short Trips
Sure, American cities aren't as walkable as European towns, but American drivers still have the tendency to, well, drive for practically every errand. That grocery store two blocks over? Yep, they're getting in the car for it. And you can bet they're going to take up two parking spaces.
16. Making Their Trucks Their Entire Personality
Americans love, love, love their pickup trucks, and they will not stop talking about them, either. In fact, have you heard how impressive their ride is? No? Well, they're here to tell you all about it. They don't care if you don't like trucks, because their truck is the best, and they're a truck driver, and you'll love their truck.
17. Insisting American-Made Cars Are Superior
See the U-S-A in your Che-vro-let! American drivers are incredibly patriotic, which means they're fiercely loyal to domestic automakers and insist that brands like Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge are automatically better than foreign competitors. Heck, all their past cars have been American-made!
18. Refusing to Admit They're Bad Drivers
No matter how many times you've told an American driver they're too loud or aggressive on the road, they'll brush you off and think you're crazy. They're not bad drivers—it's everyone else on the road who are bad drivers! They'll criticize others to high hell for speeding or failing to signal, but it's, of course, okay when they do it themselves.
19. Cutting Across Multiple Lanes to Reach an Exit
When American drivers miss an exit, they'll make it everyone's problem. You better yield to them, or you'll get caught in an extremely dangerous situation because they'll cut right across the highway! They could simply find another route, but where's the fun in that?
20. Getting Defensive About American Driving Culture
Not only will American drivers refuse to admit that they're kind of bad at driving, but they'll also get extremely defensive if you poke fun at their driving culture. Rather than acknowledging legitimate concerns about all the things we've covered, prepared to get into a heated argument with them. Don't believe us? Just show them this list.
