Driving in NY

[Scott McManus]

i drove up last night and above Glens Falls there was barely anyone on the road. I cruised about 83 mph. It was safe and leisurely but im sure it would bring a $300 ticket. Im a safe driver and dont speed around but our highways and vehicles can cruise @ 80 mph safely. Im afraid i may have just jinxed myself.

 

[trackbiker]

My pet peeve lately is people that come to a stop when they have the right of way and start waving for me to pull out in front of them. If everybody learned right of way and just followed the rules, everything would move along faster

It's different if you're stopped in traffic and some one is trying to get out of a driveway or something. It's courteous to let them in. What drives me crazy is people at 4-way stop signs that won't go when it is obviously their turn. I taught my kids, "If you have the right-of-way, TAKE the right-of-way!".

 

[jasonwx]

Same here Harv

Back in my day I used to rip around pretty good but I also had cars/sport bikes built to handle it. Now that I lived through all of that I'm not in any big hurry to get somewhere. That's what winter and sleds are for.

I used to get more tickets with a radar detector..
I have a heavy foot, it's a cat and mouse game..

a couple of years ago I got pulled over doing 90 in the rain outside of Bing.. I apologized , he gave me a ticket for a broken brake light..

 

[Warp daddy]

Driven in DC , NYC, Montreal ,Chicago and Boston all challenging ,but the worse experience ever was driving on dark rainy nights in November after working all day then going to back to back grad school courses right after work till 11 pm

So heres what happns . Im coming up on rain slicked highways in the pouring rain thinking jeez this could easily turn into black ice . Coming up over a crest and find TWO freaking horsedrawn Amish wagons pitch black in color ,no lights , riding effing side by side (one on the shoulder one in the lane ) ......GEEBUS !!!

How in hell r u supoosed to see them all in black , no effing lights ,just a small candle lantern in the damn pouring rain ???

NNY is loaded with Amish and this situation happens . I couldnt stop in time so pulled around them at a very unsafe speed , bleary eyed from a damn long day , shaken and pissed off.

 

[Peter Minde]

Without using cruise control, I do manage to drive consistently at the speed I want to drive. On the highway I try to stay ~75 mph so long as conditions permit. Will gun it to get around the clown going 60 in the left lane.

Warp, many years ago driving back from Forestville Quebec. Dropped my buddy at the Montreal bus station so he could catch a bus to Ottawa. Had to find my way to the southbound highway in French, OMG. The good lord was watching over me that day.

 

[x10003q]

I'm content at the speeds I'm going. I don't think the radar detector would lower my blood pressure.

May sound corny but ultimately the speed limit is for my protection, I'm content violating it within certain limits.

Most of the current speed limits on highways in the Northeast exist to generate cash for the states, not safety. The speeds on the NYS Thruway between NJ and Albany are almost always over the absurd 65mph "speed limit". If the speeds are less, it is due to heavy traffic. Speed limits should be set by engineering principles, not some made up BS about safety.
I always use a radar detector on the highway. I am usually moving with the faster traffic and I don't want to be randomly chosen to contribute to the state coffers.

 

[Warp daddy]

Without using cruise control, I do manage to drive consistently at the speed I want to drive. On the highway I try to stay ~75 mph so long as conditions permit. Will gun it to get around the clown going 60 in the left lane.

Warp, many years ago driving back from Forestville Quebec. Dropped my buddy at the Montreal bus station so he could catch a bus to Ottawa. Had to find my way to the southbound highway in French, OMG. The good lord was watching over me that day.

Oh , i hear you Peter ! Luckily i speak a bit of French took 3 courses and did a few weeks in Montreal one semester in undergrad school in a total immersion French experience .

But Yeah its different , and in the winter the super highways that connect from 401 to go to Tremblant are usually jammed and are full of car swallowing potholes , but hey "Les Habitants " still ram thru with their foot in the radiator ?

 

[Brownski]

The Thruway was designed for 85 mph with 1950s era cars. With modern suspension and brakes you could probably safely bump that up a bit. I don’t need any speeding tickets at this point though so I try to keep it under 80

 

[Harvey]

Most of the current speed limits on highways in the Northeast exist to generate cash for the states, not safety. The speeds on the NYS Thruway between NJ and Albany are almost always over the absurd 65mph "speed limit". If the speeds are less, it is due to heavy traffic. Speed limits should be set by engineering principles, not some made up BS about safety.
I always use a radar detector on the highway. I am usually moving with the faster traffic and I don't want to be randomly chosen to contribute to the state coffers.

Until self driving cars happen my dream will continue to be having @x10003q as my driver for skiing. He doesn't seem to mind a little snoring on the way home too.

?

 

[marcski]

As I age, I am also not in so much of a rush anymore. I still really enjoy driving just as much as I did when I used to thrust myself into the back seat of my '69 Grand Prix Model J 428 4bbl. H.O., that pushed out 370 ponies. That was a cool car! Now, I'd only do what I used to do with that car on closed roadways. I also only drive manuals now, so although my hp has dropped significantly, I have the added enjoyment of striving for the perfect shift (perhaps similar to seeking the perfect tele turn in skiing?) and then feeling the physics taking over when downshifting and acelerating through corners is even more thrilling to me than just sheer speed at this point in life.