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Am I the only one who doesn't think it's that curvy?
I agree that people speed on the Parkway, but IMO what makes it more dangerous is the idiots who go far too slow for traffic, causing people speeding to suddenly slam on their brakes, then get into the next lane over to pass the idiot going 60 in the left. Then forget it if the person next to the idiot going 60 in the left is also going 60, and there's nothing you can do except hope someone gets it and moves over or speeds up. People like this, IMO, are more dangerous than speeders. IMO speeding and weaving between lanes is more dangerous than just speeding. If people would understand how the flow of traffic works and stop trying to play State Trooper and control traffic in the left lanes, it would appear and be safer IMO.
Slow traffic to the right. If people are passing you and going faster than you, move the eff over, regardless of whether you think they are going too fast.
Am I the only one who doesn't think it's that curvy?
I agree that people speed on the Parkway, but IMO what makes it more dangerous is the idiots who go far too slow for traffic, causing people speeding to suddenly slam on their brakes, then get into the next lane over to pass the idiot going 60 in the left. Then forget it if the person next to the idiot going 60 in the left is also going 60, and there's nothing you can do except hope someone gets it and moves over or speeds up. People like this, IMO, are more dangerous than speeders. IMO speeding and weaving between lanes is more dangerous than just speeding. If people would understand how the flow of traffic works and stop trying to play State Trooper and control traffic in the left lanes, it would appear and be safer IMO.
Slow traffic to the right. If people are passing you and going faster than you, move the eff over, regardless of whether you think they are going too fast.
Am I the only one who doesn't think it's that curvy?
I agree that people speed on the Parkway, but IMO what makes it more dangerous is the idiots who go far too slow for traffic, causing people speeding to suddenly slam on their brakes, then get into the next lane over to pass the idiot going 60 in the left. Then forget it if the person next to the idiot going 60 in the left is also going 60, and there's nothing you can do except hope someone gets it and moves over or speeds up. People like this, IMO, are more dangerous than speeders. IMO speeding and weaving between lanes is more dangerous than just speeding. If people would understand how the flow of traffic works and stop trying to play State Trooper and control traffic in the left lanes, it would appear and be safer IMO.
Slow traffic to the right. If people are passing you and going faster than you, move the eff over, regardless of whether you think they are going too fast.
No, I didn't get that, either. It has curves, but they are long and gradual, not sharp.
You are right on the money with your assessment of how people drive. As I said, I travel the Parkway to visit my mother in Bergen County, but I also travel to Ontario once a month--The Parkway to 280 to 80 to 380 to 81--as well as up the Thruway to Albany, and the GSP is by far the most dangerous and stressful part of the 530-mile trip. I stopped at my mom's on the way home from Albany on Saturday and then came down the Parkway from Exit 160 to 109, and probably three times there was someone dawdling along in the center lane, with everyone at normal speeds going around them on either side. I think I only came across one such driver earlier on the Thruway. That's a recipe for a collision.
I myself simply adore the Garden State Parkway. The top down the wind in my hair the smell of �� on a lovely Sunday afternoon. I kick off my wooden shoes throw caution to the wind and just drive drive drive.
GSP is fine in my book. It’s parts of the Jackie Robinson, Southern State, and Taconic parkways in NY that keep me on edge.
+1
On the GSP, I get into the right lane, set my cruise control for 75, and proceed to pass most of the people who are dawdling along in the middle and left lanes. I refer to the right lane as my "private passing lane". Only rarely do I have to move out of the right-hand lane in order to make very good progress on that highway.
As was said, the antiquated design of those NY "expressways"--coupled with incredibly bad NY drivers--makes those NY State highways far more dangerous--IMHO.
GSP is fine in my book. It’s parts of the Jackie Robinson, Southern State, and Taconic parkways in NY that keep me on edge.
Jackie Robinson is pure racetrack, I don't think it's that dangerous because the curves and apexes have signs and there's not a huge differential of speeds. I used to track that road with friends doing 70mph in my sports car and it was pure joy with the insane S curves and sweeping downturns and then watching sport bikes doing in/out like butter.
GSP is dangerous because of the differences in speed. You're doing 60mph in the center and all of a sudden you gotta mash the brakes because a bottleneck exit ahead and people are jumping from left to right and cutting people off and causing braking and then people changing lanes left and right. That's a recipe for collision when you have a lot of bottlenecking. The most challenging parts are going towards Asbury Park and there is some 2 lane areas and down and up hill with sudden sweeping turns and they have overpath right next to it. A drunk is gonna slam into that and they have very little grass on both sides give people very little margin of error.
Jackie Robinson is pure racetrack, I don't think it's that dangerous because the curves and apexes have signs and there's not a huge differential of speeds. I used to track that road with friends doing 70mph in my sports car and it was pure joy with the insane S curves and sweeping downturns and then watching sport bikes doing in/out like butter.
GSP is dangerous because of the differences in speed. You're doing 60mph in the center and all of a sudden you gotta mash the brakes because a bottleneck exit ahead and people are jumping from left to right and cutting people off and causing braking and then people changing lanes left and right. That's a recipe for collision when you have a lot of bottlenecking. The most challenging parts are going towards Asbury Park and there is some 2 lane areas and down and up hill with sudden sweeping turns and they have overpath right next to it. A drunk is gonna slam into that and they have very little grass on both sides give people very little margin of error.
Yeah the people who "jump the line" at those exits with heavy traffic are annoying. Everyone's waiting in traffic at rush hour for exits like 145 northbound, someone trying to cut in last minute only makes all the traffic worse. People also don't realize this.
I blame some of the problem on overdevelopment though. My exit gets backed up into the right lane at rush hour now, southbound, and it never really did that before they started building freaking apartments everywhere, adding thousands of more people into my town and others close by in only a few years. There's often some traffic on the right side of the parkway because people are stopped in the right lane waiting for the exit to clear.
The Parkway is very wide, very congested, and has some of the most aggressive drivers in the country, but geometrically it's not a very demanding road. Try the PA Turnpike towards Pittsburgh, or I-81 through Virginia, or a bunch of other roads.
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