Theories and debates abound as to which state has the worst drivers. I say Arizona.
Like a home-schooled child, Arizonans and Phoenicians in particular are completely sheltered, but not from social norms. Weather norms.
One of the biggest draws of a college campus is its setting, and while the pines and snow of NAU have attracted their fair share of prospective freshmen, the sunny, social atmosphere of ASU’s campuses has been a major selling point for the University.
The cost of living here, however, is the equivalent of losing your sea legs. Almost a complete lack of fog, tornados, tidal waves, earth quakes or precipitation of any kind has created a population of sheltered, though perfectly sun-bronzed, residents.
Drivers have been tap-tap-tapping their breaks along uncharacteristically drippy (and oily) streets, the rules of hydroplaning and crashing apparently forgotten, ever since the weather went batty and decided to give us a soak. As the desert drank up some much-needed moisture, residents weren’t so quick to adapt.
Arizona only sees a few inches of rainfall each year. If practice makes perfect, the infrequency showers in the Valley don’t give residents the repetition to stay safe year-round. Each storm brings with it a learning curve for Arizonans as they scramble to remember just how bald their tires are these days.
Our one claim to inclement infamy, apart from a temperature over 100 degrees in the summer? Haboobs, a term so funny, simple dust storms are often referred to as such.
The first haboob was indeed scary. Many Arizonans had never seen anything like the giant wall of dust that slowly settled over the Valley. Without air conditioning, cars that were caught on the road were forced to pull over. Families stayed in, and pool-cleaning and car wash companies were busy for weeks afterward.
As shocking as that, and subsequent storms, was, it made us all very aware of just how seldom people living near Maricopa County have to actually contend with the weather.
Every teen must demonstrate on their driving test knowledge of how to contend with natural occurrences and disasters on the road. Those lessons are largely forgotten for those who are raised in Phoenix, Tempe, Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, or any other nook of the metro area.
The fast drivers of California and the cab drivers of New York have their faults, but at least when things go wrong and the weather changes things up, they know exactly how to handle it.
