An Open Letter to Iowa Drivers Traveling Through Missouri

I am about to venture into dangerous territory because my wife is from Iowa. I love my wife. But, even she would maybe admit that drivers from the Hawkeye state have some...peculiar driving habits and this is my open letter to all of them as they frequently travel through my part of Missouri.

Get our free mobile app

Before I begin a bit of a rant, let me reiterate how wonderful my wife and her Iowa family are. Truly some of the best and most kind people in history. It's actually partly because of that fact that I am so mystified about why they are absolutely the worst drivers in America.

I'll give you an example. I was driving my family through Iowa a couple years ago and driver after driver kept passing me and then jumping into my lane 5 FEET IN FRONT OF ME. I looked at my wife perplexed and she shrugged and said rather nonchalantly "That's how we drive around here". I may be paraphrasing, but that was the gist of her response.

Fast forward to present. I drive highway 61 regularly between Quincy and Canton. Today alone I had at least 3 Iowa drivers pull the "jump in front of you immediately after they pass" maneuver. It's maddening.

Full disclosure: I fully admit that I'm not God's gift to driving either, but I really do consciously try not to cut it close when I'm changing lanes.

The scientific proof that Iowa drivers are awful

This is not just my opinion, by the way. There's some science involved. The Des Moines Register did an article acknowledging that Iowa drivers were ranked the worst in America by an insurance website. That's an admission by an Iowa newspaper that their own state is at the bottom of the driving food chain.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I had family members tell me growing up that when it comes to driving, Iowa stands for "Idiots Out Wandering Around". That's harsh and I don't believe they are idiots at all. Bad drivers sometimes? Absolutely. Idiots? Nope. Virtually every Iowan I've known has been kind and awesome.

I'll end this with a question. If you are one of the Iowa drivers I'm referring to, are you aware that you don't allow much personal space when you're changing lanes or is that how you were taught and it's normal to you? I'm seriously asking and not being facetious. How can a state full of really nice people completely suck when it comes to driving?