A question

IamChrissa

Hello, I'm CAT. I don't live in VA, but I do travel there at least once a month to see friends. I'm from the Baltimore, MD area, so I'm not to far from you. I go to Gainseville (I think I spelled that right) so I have to travel 495W and 66W. I'm just curious to know, why does traffic in VA stop or slow down for no reason? I've noticed this trend whenever I'm in VA, and it's not isolated in N VA, I saw it in the Hampton Roads area as well. I was driving down 66 W and traffic went from a nice flow of 70mph to 30mph, being from Baltimore when this happens I expect an accident, construction or police involvement or something of that nature, but as I traveled the length of the back up there was nothing, it seems there was a few miles that everyone or someone just decided that it would be good to slow down. I don't understand, I'm hoping maybe someone who lives or grew up in VA could shed some light on this seemingly only VA phenomenon.

JoNi2010

I thought that too when I first moved to Richmond 5 years ago - Why do Richmonders drive so unbearably slow??? Well, I learned the hard way - there are lots and lots of cops.  In VA, reckless driving I believe is anything over 80mph or 20 mph over the speed limit, and it's a felony.  Few of my friends have been charged and they had to hire lawyers for what seems like a simple traffic ticket.  So after a few unfortunate tickets of my own (I got pulled over for going 7 mph over!!), I've slowed down myself.  The cops are just too aggressive and the risk is not worth it anymore. 

UDscoobychick

Ditto.  As a native NY-er, I was amazed at how f'ing SLOW Virginians drive.  But ya, there are cops everywhere...and the undercover ones are pretty tough to spot.  I also think that sometimes the roads are not enough lanes for the sheer volume of traffic they need to accommodate, which slows things down, too.

waltzingmatilda13

Trust me, I've lived in VA my whole life and those slow people are keeping me back, too. It's not all of us, just some who have no business being on the road.

Sometimes it really is just a few people who slowed down for no reason and are just in the way of all the rest of us who are trying to drive. They just raised the speed limit on some of the highways around me and no one has paid attention. As a result people are now driving about 5 MPH under the speed limit. I hate it.

And yes there are a lot of cops, but people tend to overreact and slam on their brakes which only makes things worse because everyone behind them reacts in kind and thus you get a huge slow spot. 70 to 25 right back to 70 for (seemingly) no reason at all. I've never gotten pulled over and I see them every where.

JenO24

I grew up in Richmond and moved to the Hampton Roads area when I left home to go to college.  The whole state is pretty bad for every reason listed above.  One person is all it takes to mess things up for everyone else causing hour delays.