:B I have driven in Portland and metro Vancouver many times, I know what you guys are talking about. I think drivers get so focused on what THEY want, where THEY want to go that they become oblivious to what is happening around them. Planning ahead is a foreign concept.
Speaking of Portland I was on I-5 crossing the Willamette river pulling a 35' flat deck trailer behind a 1 ton. The granola chomper ahead of me in a VW camper changed lanes, no biggie, then changed back right in front of me and STOPPED straddling the white line.:E This was during afternoon rush hour. I locked everything up and laid on the horn. Moonray came out of his reverie and got out of the way moments before I would have put his engine in the front seat.