Payneful Top 10 - Things I Hate About Driving in Winnipeg

Alright, I am SURE many of you can sympathize with a lot of what is on this list, but some things are unique to Winnipeg, I'm torqued so let's get into it!

10) - People that park in stupid places and assume that because they put their hazard lights on that it's magically ok...Listen, when you park behind me so I can't get out, I don't care if it's for 30 seconds or 30 minutes. Either way I am gonna go off! Do what the rest of us do and drive around swearing until you find a spot.

9) - People that cut you off are always annoying, but it seems to happen more here than any other city I've lived in. I think it's a hobby for some people and man are they good at it!

8) - Have you ever seen a red light with a green arrow pointing ahead? Well in Winnipeg you will. I guess it's saying "Stop!...unless you are going straight"...stupid. Why not just have a green light? The first time I encountered this I stopped at a red light and got irate with the guy honking his horn behind me until I realized that everyone else was driving so I better get moving. Did I miss something? doesn't red mean stop? Not in Winnipeg I guess.

7) - No one can yield properly...no one. Nearly every merge lane I come to the person in front of STOPS! Why? it's NOT a stop sign! slow down or speed up, look for a break in traffic, but don't stop!

6) - Red light camera's at randomly chosen intersections. The results are two-fold; first, they take a picture of you if you drive through a red light, and second they take a picture of you when you speed through the intersection. That's really awesome to get a ticket in the mail. It really puts you in a great mood that's for sure. The nice thing is you see the camera flashes go off when you trip the sensor, so I always try to smile for the cameras. Hey if I am getting my picture taken I want to look good!

5) - Mud, Grime, road scum. Whatever you call it, it get's all over everything and builds up thicker and thicker with every trip to the mall. I drive a white van, so basically for most of the Spring it's actually brown. I haven't seen anything that dirty since 'Showgirls.'

4) - Confusion corner...how do I explain it? It is absolutely a Winnipeg phenomenon and can best be described as an intersection with multiple entrances and exits that inevitably has me aiming for one exit and coming out on an entirely different one. I swear the designers of this intersection were either drunk or they were trying to get fired.

3) - Cruise night is another Winnipeg event that happens every Sunday night when the weather is nice. Basically everyone that has a nice car, (or thinks they have a nice car) drives up and down the main drag through town (Portage Ave as well as other streets). The strangest part though is that people line up on the sidewalks to watch this happen! I don't get it. Are you waiting for Santa? a really big float with hot chicks waving? Maybe Shriner's on little mini-bikes? I dunno, I admit I am no car guy but why watch cars drive by? who cares? Anyway the residents that live near these streets HATE it but it can't be stopped. It's big, ugly and in your face...just like Rosie O'Donnell.

2) - Potholes EVERYWHERE! Not little ones that make you feel like you hit a speedbump but deep ones that snap wheels off cars or cause major accidents. I have two on my way to work that got filled in two days ago and already have grown to a foot deep and 3 ft across. I thought it was fixed but when I hit it I screamed like a girl! The worst ones are ones disguised as puddles. No big deal, it's just a puddle...until your car turns into a submarine. Some of them even turn into car swallowing sink-holes. It's down-right frightening.

1) - Now for my all time biggest Winnipeg irritant; Radar vans. These vans, (or sometimes SUV's, or Cars) park unobtrusively on the side of busy roads looking like any other parked car, until you get beside them and see the camera set-up in the passenger seat...A**holes! I drove by one the other day and didn't realize it until a week and a half later when I got a ticket in the mail (like the ones from the red-light cameras) for just under 200 bucks! Ridiculous. I once got two on the same day as I thought the speed limit was 60 kmh when it was actually 50 so I got one for each leg of a round trip to the other side of town....Well the important thing is it stops people from speeding thereby keeping us all safe. Bulls***! It's merely a cash grab by the government that is almost as lucrative as gambling revenue...not that I'm bitter or anything.

There yah have it. If the cold doesn't kill you the potholes will. So if you are planning a trip to Winnipeg here are some tips; Drive slow, be patient and beware the potholes, especially the ones with puddles!