Photo by katieforeman2010

We’ve all complained about D.C. drivers and traffic, but how do we stack up to other places across the country?

According to a Jalopnik survey, D.C. ranks ninth on a list of the Top 10 worst places in the U.S. to own a car:

The roads of Washington D.C. seem to have been purposefully designed to confuse drivers and stop traffic. No one there knows how to drive, except for the cabbies, who operate on a completely different plane of existence than every other car in the metro area. The traffic is so bad that even the smallest distances are measured in time stuck in jams, not miles.

The only city behind us is Austin, Texas; we’re beaten out by Hawaii, Chicago, New Orleans, Boston, Fresno, Miami, New York and—taking top honors—San Francisco.

As a cyclist and a car-owner, I can’t lie and say that the region’s traffic alone shouldn’t easily qualify D.C. for a Top 10 billing. But Jalopnik’s claim that the city’s roads are oh-so-confusing and that cab drivers are the only one that can navigate them is, well, a little hard to swallow.

It doesn’t take long to figure out D.C.’s roads, and when stacked against Boston’s, they make perfect sense. As for cabbies, well, they certainly do operate on another plane—whether or not that plane is, you know, on the road. (To be fair, though—not all cabbies are bad drivers.)

Also, this survey ignores one reality: D.C. can be a great place to not have or need a car.