Another long weekend is upon us, a popular time for BC residents to road trip to the states across the border. However, one Washington resident has some words of caution.
In a Reddit thread earlier this week, Redditor Jessintheend, who hails from Washington, had some driving advice for BC travellers.
“Whenever you guys visit Washington, I am literally begging you to drive at least somewhat coherently. Here are some pointers.”
We’ve done several stories about how Americans feel about Canadians and BC residents travelling across the border. While sentiments are generally friendly, some Americans are also peeved about the perceived entitlement of travelling BC residents.
“I am posting this with the best intentions possible,” the Washington resident said.
Most of the pointers in the Reddit post focused on BC drivers not following road rules.
“Don’t go 45 mph on the highway,” they said.
They added that BC drivers should not stop at every section of a roundabout but should use a turn signal and a mirror. They also said that one-way road signs are not optional.
“I say this out of the kindness of my heart because we in Washington have a joke near the border here we say ‘check the plate!’ whenever there’s a car accident.”
“You’re good people”
We had some questions for the Washington resident, who doesn’t think it’s all bad.
“I riff on Canadians, but you’re good people,” the Redditor told Daily Hive.
They said that for every one person who might be driving erratically, “there are five other Canadian plates they don’t notice because they drive fine.”
We also asked if they agree with the perceived sense of entitlement some Washington residents are getting from Canadian travellers.
“There’s definitely a sense of entitlement sometimes. BC visitors seemed to be offended when people told them that they could be a nuisance in terms of traffic and extra crowds. If there weren’t so many of them visiting, Bellingham would be a much more chill town overall.”
Many of the Redditors in the BC subreddit agreed.
“Vancouver drivers are especially bad, I’ll give you that,” one user said in response, adding a complaint of their own.
“That being said, I have noticed Washington plates with especially bad driving to and from Whistler.”
They concluded their thought by saying, “Vancouver drivers do totally suck though.”
Another user also agreed but added there are “horrible drivers everywhere, and none of the things you’ve mentioned are unique to Vancouver drivers.”
Others weren’t as receptive to the advice.
“Nah, I’ll just go ahead and do what I want. Thanks though.”
Washington reaps the benefits of BC border travellers
Vincent Ngai/Shutterstock
There are some irrefutable benefits from Canadians travelling to the States. We heard from Micahel Woody, Visit Seattle’s chief communications officer.
Woody says that roughly 1.7 million visitors travelled from Canada to Seattle in 2023. Those travellers contributed around $563 million in US dollars to the Seattle economy.
“Seattle is uniquely positioned to offer western Canadians a diverse variety of restaurants, shops, and cultural attractions within a three-hour drive,” he said.
We also asked about BC residents travelling down south for specific items.
“It’s no surprise to hear about these trips for things they can’t find elsewhere,” he added.
We also contacted Tourism Bellingham for some numbers but have not yet heard back.
Based on your experiences travelling across the BC border to Washington, how do you feel about the US resident’s thoughts? Chime in in the comments.