How To Drive in the South

Of course, these rules go out the window when you're in Florida. Anything goes down there. #itsasouthernthing #sotrueyall #drivinginthesnow

[kimkimba]

My brother had a funny experience. He grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Louisiana. He got pulled over for going the speed limit while it was snowing. The officer told him he should slow down due to it snowing. But when my brother told him he was originally from Wisconsin, the officer apologized and sent him on his way. 😮😊

[richardnedbalek]

🪦 The funeral procession rule is a real thing. Respect.

[ThinWhiteAxe]

Man, the thing about wondering for the next 20 minutes whether they saw your wave or not hurts me deep down inside, it's so true.

[keithstark]

The funeral procession rule was /is always true for me. My pawpaw almost got into a fistfight over someone not respecting my grandmother’s procession.

[smoke]

The funeral procession was something that I witnessed two weeks ago, in Alabama, during my nanas' funeral. Being from up north I did not know that that was a thing in the south. It took me by surprise but made me feel honored by the respect they all showed.

[thattinawoman]

My parents are from Alabama but I was raised in Illinois...moved to Texas not long after college and have been here for almost 20 years at this point, and "don't go if there might be snow" is a rule I live by. Why? Because while I am adept at snow driving (it's a skill you never really lose), no native Texan has that skill. I'm terrified of everyone else on the road when it rains, let alone snows...and I mean, my goodness, they only have sand to put down on the road for traction, so for the love of all that is good and holy - just stay home.

[jezlassiter]

You forgot to keep snacks (Little Debbie) and water bottles/bug juices in the car in case you see someone in need of assistance. Even if you can’t help, as a Southerner, you should pull over and offer them the snacks, who knows how long they could be waiting for someone who can help. This is also a pro tip because there could be kids, and snacks will help calm them down if they’re scared.

[jerseydevs]

I just watched a Charlie Berens video on a similar topic. I am now convinced that if a Wisconsinite and an Alabamian arrived at a four-way stop at the same time, they would basically both wave for the other one to go through in an increasingly frantic manner... until the Californian who arrived at the intersection after them just decides to go through.

[dclark]

I grew up in Michigan...worked in Atlanta one winter when I was 21. It began flurrying. The family I was renting a room from were horrified when I went out to the store.

After about an hour of terror, I returned to the house properly chastised. Southerners have NO IDEA how to drive when it is snowing, and panic drive either ridiculously aggressive, or crawl at absurdly slow speeds. Furthermore, the roads are NOT designed to allow driving in ice or snow. There is no concept of keeping a level roadway so you won't slide off into the ditch because of a slippery surface...no concept of crowning the road surface to channel slippery liquids to where they need to go. Nope. Just slap the road down on a decent foundation and get on with life.

Dangerous as all get out. If it snows in the south...just stay home. Even if you know how to drive in snow, the rest of the population doesn't...and major portions of your route are likely impassable just by road design.

[craftyluna]

There needs to be a footnote that none of the "southern hospitality" rules apply to driving in Atlanta.

[cindymichaud]

I've driven in snow & ice for decades, but driving during a rain storm/tornado watch/ warned area is not easy. The water comes faster than wipers can clear it away. I can honestly say in my many years in the Northeast, I could count on one hand the number of torrential rains experienced. But in the South, torrential rain is the norm and exceeded my previous experience the first month. Wow, because when it rains in the South, it pours. Literally. 🌊⛈🙏👑✝

[shanidar]

Last section was 100% correct. Went to my Uncle's funeral in Texarkana. Every car was off the street, and we passed through a few miles of town... got out to the cemetery and a tractor across the road was cutting grass. He shut down the tractor, stood up and took his hat off. My Uncle had been a VoTech teacher in Texarkana and was (apparently) well known. Whatever the case, immense respect was shown to the funeral procession.

[cutloose]

When approaching a 4 way in the south, if cars are present, I intentionally approach the intersection slower so that the other drivers have the ability to sort out whose first before I get there. Works sometimes.

[collette]

Great video ! When I was 14 we moved from the DC area to Kentucky. True story. We stopped for gas in Tennessee and the attendant- this was before self service stations- and he asked Mom how our oil was. She said that it had been checked at the last stop. Then he said slowly no, I'm asking how are you you all ? She still thought he said oil. He finally said that's good and shook his head. Also people were calling us honey or sugar. That disturbed me until we finally got to KY and I understood that's just how friendly the people here are. After living all the rest of my life down south I would never live anywhere else. Bless your heart ❤️.

[tejasgingerbelle]

The funeral procession is a MAJOR rule and I wish more people knew about it, understood, and most importantly obeyed it. Growing up in Mississippi this was a vital necessity and well bless your heart for not showing respect like you ought to for those that have passed on. I grew up with everyone pulling over to the shoulder and get out to show respect. When I moved after HS to Atlanta area I would get so mad for this not being a thing that was obeyed. I had no clue people would or even could just drive right past the procession like it’s no big deal!

[Deltaflot]

This Georgia boy was stationed in Maine during the winter. I had duty driver for my command one day, and there was a foot of snow on the ground. The vehicle in question was the standard Navy white 15 passenger van with only front wheel drive. After my Commanding Officer got in, I turned around and told everyone upfront, I was from, Georgia, had never driven in snow (I had a canadian friend for that) and things were going to be really really slow. After nearly spinning out on the intial attmept to move the van, my Commanding Officer quipped, "Theyre going to find us in the bottom of the drydock tomorrow morning, aren't they? " I responded, "Possibly Sir". I did manage to get everyone to the barracks safely that day. :p

[irkenvader]

I guess we’re not gonna talk about merging traffic from an on-ramp, then? I’ve lived more than half of my adult life somewhere in the South, and my biggest complaint was how meek the drivers were when they were merging onto a highway. They would always try to drop behind you, even if you were adjusting your speed to let them in front of you, which led to a competition in deceleration. I love the South, but this was one thing that I could never get used to.

[yellowdogparty]

As a native Floridian, I think you might need to disclaim more about the flashers in the rain. We already have enough people thinking that that is actually all true so the joke isn’t obvious enough. 😂 When driving in the rain, keep going, even if the car in the lane next to you disappears, you can still keep going.

[alysoffoxdale]

Water-soluble driving skills, y'all! And I once had a native of southeast Asia tell me she'd never seen an actual _monsoon_ rain as consistently hard for as long as the summer rainstorms were doing in Virginia that year!

[Baphy]

I hate how accurate this is 😂😂😂 Especially the wave to apologize for any minor mistake "ope! didn't see ya there, bud **waves** my bad" (Arkansas here)