I-4 to Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater - warning

[ParrotBill]

During our vacation the last 2 weeks, we went to Clearwater for 2 days so we drove from Orlando on Sunday 8/18 and returned the evening of 8/20.

After driving 2600 miles round trip from Rochester NY, this roundtrip on I-4 was by far the most dangerous and worst driving.

The amount of aggressive driving, high speed passing (90+ mph) and number of accidents was astounding. People driving slowly in the left lane led to high speed lane weaving. Sudden slowdowns and rubberbanding were common and without warning.

Slow traffic in Tampa at the I-275 junction has always been common. We were able to plan an alternate route and used it to avoid slow I-275 through Tampa. But no good alternate routes from Orlando to Tampa.

Drive safely if you take any side trips in this direction!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

It could have been busy because college kids were returning to school on Aug 21 at least the University of Tampa was and there may have been other colleges in the area that were just starting the new school year.

 

[IlovePiglet]

I've driven I-4 and 275 3 out of the last 5 days this past week and unfortunately the OP is correct.
It can be quite scary at times and I'm a professional driver. Some spots seem to be worse than others but I find that by just maintaining a good following distance and being aware of the vehicles around me I'm ok.
For someone unfamiliar with the area it can be quite unnerving.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We were in Orlando from August 23rd to 31st, and did lots of driving around the area (including to Cocoa Beach and back). The roads were very chaotic....but there were soooo many people that we saw texting while driving (or holding a cell phone to their ear, yapping away ). I can only assume that its not illegal to use a cell phone while driving in the state of Florida, but you would think common sense would stop someone from doing it.

Add that (and the numerous aggressive drivers) to the number of tourists who had no idea where they were going, and we were amazed we didn't see more accidents than we did.

 

[MillauFr]

Driving is the most risky thing that most people do. Can't wait till we have cars that drive themselves. No more drunk drivers to worry about, no more texters, no more distracted drivers, no more speeders, etc...