what do you guys think of chicago driving? or illinois

I think driving in Chicago blows donkey ballzzzzzz

 

Northern Ill 4-wheelers are among the most aggressive in the country. Too bad they behave the same way once they get out of their home state. Of course, drivers from the counties around Atlanta are no better.

 

Yes, I've learned that those are pretty much harmless unless they're located on a ramp and accompanied by a sign that says "no trucks"

 

Speaking as someone who drove a commercial vehicle in the NYC area full-time for 12 years, I would prefer to drive the NYC roads over ####cago. I'm not saying NYC is a picnic, because it's not and every comment on here about rude drivers in NYC is totally spot on, but Chicago roads all have merges that are impossible to navigate in any sort of traffic and that split off where the 3 interstates diverge is an absolute horror. I rarely have seen backups in NY that I have jaunting thru Chi-town.

Best advice, though, is to avoid either like the plague!!

 

I used to haul in and out of railyards there every day. I got used to it. You want to avoid 7-10 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. if possible, learn alternate routes. The drivers themselves, hey, aggressive drivers are at least predictable. Sometimes small town drivers are more dangerous than Chicago drivers, they can't make up their mind what they want to do. At least in Chicago you know they're gonna go for it every time, they're going to ignore your turn signal unless you start moving over, etc...

 

I ran Chicago for years, once you learn where to go, and where to avoid, it's really pretty easy. Aggressive drivers, yes, but you have them everywhere these days.

 

Pay attention to what's going on in the city, too. This past Friday they shut down a bunch of streets for the Hawks parade. The highways usually fill up when there is any sporting events or shows, also Friday night getting into the city is a nightmare cause of all the folks going to party. It gets fun around 2AM spotting the super partiers (drunks)
Oh! Grab the low clearance map from CDOT if you're doing p/d's off the big road.

 

I've been hit twice in Chicaqo, dread having to go there every time....

 

I go there a couple times a week. Doesn't really bother me at all. NYC never bothered me much either.

You're going to see a lot of stupid crap and traffic when you go to those kind of places. You know it ahead of time. If you let it bother you it will just make it worse.

 

My first solo run the company thought it was a good idea to send me to Chicago on a Friday afternoon on a tight deadline no less. What a nightmare. I was ready to quit already after that. Next Friday same thing. Haven't been back since and it's fine with me. Go around if you can.