How to drive in New Jersey

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In summary: French drivers are just as bad, if not worse. Boston drivers are FAR worse, ruder, and more likely to cause personal trouble. If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.
  • #1
Evo
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I used to have to drive across New Jersey and back everyday. This made me laugh.

How to drive in New Jersey

First, you must learn how to pronounce Newark... It is New-erk, not New-ark. (Actually, it's pronounced 'NORK'.)

2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 a.m. to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 p.m. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.

3.. The minimum acceptable speed on the turnpike is 85 mph.
On the Garden State Parkway it's 105 or 110.
Anything less is considered 'Wussy.'

4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere.
Jersey has its own version of traffic rules. For example, cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go first at a four-way stop; the trucks with the biggest tires go second. However, in Monmouth County, SUV-driving, cell phone-talking moms ALWAYS have the right of way.

5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.

6. Never honk at anyone. EVER.
It's another offense that can get you shot.

7. Road construction is permanent and continuous in all of Jersey. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit 'more exciting'.

8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, cats, barrels, cones, celebrities, rubber-neckers, shredded tires, cell-phoners, deer and other road kill, and the homeless feeding on any of these items.

9. Mapquest does not work here -- none of the roads are where they say they are or go where they say they do. And all the Turnpike EZ pass lanes are moved each night, once again to make your ride 'more exciting'.

10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been 'accidentally activated.'

11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 70 in a 55-65mph zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be 'flipped off' accordingly. If you return the flip, you'll be shot.

12. Do not try to estimate travel time -- just leave Monday afternoon for Tuesday appointments, by noon Thursday for Friday, and right after church on Sunday for anything on Monday morning.

Follow these simple tips and perhap you should make it through the day alive in New Jersey ...

You got to problem wit dat ?
 
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  • #2
I wouldn't survive. I'd be absolutely petrified to drive there.
 
  • #3
I thought Newark was pronounced Noo-wrk, and the state is Noo JoyZee, and LI is Lonk I-lnd. :biggrin:

Several other items sound like Boston. The first time I drove there - from the airport, through the tunnel - was interesting. I'd never seen people hanging out the window cursing at other drivers and resorting to hand signals. But then I'd never seen 8-10 lanes (2 from the left, 2 from the right, and 4-6 (it was hard to tell at times) in a fantail arrangement)).

NJ signage is either incomprehensible or non-existent. The same can be said for parts of NY City and lower Westchester County.

Oh - and go right to go left, and several rights make a U-turn.
 
  • #4
New Jersey drivers are bad. Boston drivers are FAR worse, ruder, and more likely to cause personal trouble. I have had to drive in lots of lots of cities (often in unfamiliar rental-cars in my consulting business) and Boston is the worst ever. I live within striking distance of Boston and always drove my own vehicles there, so I was in the most familiar conveyances, and still it was FAR worse than driving rentals through Manhattan, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Phillie, etc. I included the other cities because they have their own particular traffic problems, but for personal stress inflicted on drivers, Boston is tops.
 
  • #5
It sounds like it could possibly be worse than LA.

I've learned to deal with LA traffic by just driving forward and ignoring anybody using their horn. Oh, and learning where the convenient side streets are and easy places to turn left...
 
  • #6
Ben Niehoff said:
It sounds like it could possibly be worse than LA.

I've learned to deal with LA traffic by just driving forward and ignoring anybody using their horn. Oh, and learning where the convenient side streets are and easy places to turn left...
Boston is an old town, with the main streets coming in like spokes on a hub. The layout is nasty, and the drivers are FAR worse.
 
  • #7
If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk.
 
  • #8
I always thought it was funny how in Jersey If you are making a left you just gun it instead of yielding because of the lack of left turn lanes, at least in the city.
 
  • #9
Pah - I've driven in Paris - in a right hand drive car.

You know those movies of German troops marching through Paris? It's because they were scared to drive!
 
  • #10
mbisCool said:
I always thought it was funny how in Jersey If you are making a left you just gun it instead of yielding because of the lack of left turn lanes, at least in the city.
In which city?

3.. The minimum acceptable speed on the turnpike is 85 mph.
On the Garden State Parkway it's 105 or 110.
Anything less is considered 'Wussy.'

From my experience there's a lot more speeding on the Turnpike... even I've gone 85 on the turnpike, and I never go over 70. And the EZ pass lane placement is spot on

EDIT TO ADD: The driving in paris is pretty intense

 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #11
You need to drive at least 105 mph in the left lane on the NJ turnpike. Even then you will be tailgated.
 
  • #12
mgb_phys said:
Pah - I've driven in Paris - in a right hand drive car.
You should try Milano. Italian people can not stop talking, and it requires both hands.
 
  • #13
Palermo, Italy is the worst. Imagine driving through Boston, but all of the other drivers are blindfolded and smoking crack.
 
  • #14
The National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had funded a project with the U.S. auto makers for the past ten years, whereby the auto makers were installing black boxes in four-wheel drive pickup trucks in an effort to determine, in fatal accidents, the circumstances in the last 15 seconds before the crash.

They were surprised to find in 49 of the 50 states the last words of drivers in 61.2 percent of fatal crashes were, "Oh, $hit!"

Only the state of Wisconsin was different, where 96.4 percent of the final words were -
"Hey, hold my beer I want to try something!"
 
  • #15
Another important thing about New Jersey driving: It costs a lot of money to get out of New Jersey (every bridge has a big toll on the way out only - like $3), but it's worth every penny.
 
  • #16
Never been off the freeway in New Jersey, but even that is annoying. Yeah, there are tons of tolls. Only toll road I remember near Boston is the Mass Turnpike.

As far as driving conditions in the U.S. I would have to say Boston is the worst. I grew up about 30 miles from Boston and I avoided driving there whenever possible. The place is a maze of one-way roads and over-caffeinated, aggressive, discourteous drivers that train themselves through red lights. Especially in winter the two lane roads become one lane roads with traffic heading in both directions. Good luck finding parking. It's terrible! I recommend taking the T to the train station.

LA is hectic too. Only been there a few times, but I remember lots of traffic moving very fast and very close together. Switching lanes was like dodging bullets at times. But at least I got some satisfaction from the fact that I was actually getting somewhere.

Here are all 10 of the worst cities for traffic as put together by Forbes Magazine.

Top 10 Cities With The Worst Traffic:

Washington D.C.
Atlanta, GA
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Houston, TX
New York, NY
Riverside – San Bernardino, CA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Boston, MA.
It's funny though. I've driven through all of these cities except Riverside and I don't remember any of them being as frustrating as driving in Boston. Eh, maybe it's cause I grew up there, or because I was trying to navigate my way through the city and not just sticking to the freeway.

(Oops. I have been through San Bernardino on the Interstate 10)
 
  • #17
mgb_phys said:
Pah - I've driven in Paris - in a right hand drive car.

Impressive! Have you taken on the Place de L'Etoile?
 
  • #18
I have to drive from NJ to CT today. I hope I make it!

I learned to drive on the mean streets of Manhattan. :devil:
 
  • #19
  • #20
sas3 said:
The National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had funded a project with the U.S. auto makers for the past ten years, whereby the auto makers were installing black boxes in four-wheel drive pickup trucks in an effort to determine, in fatal accidents, the circumstances in the last 15 seconds before the crash.

They were surprised to find in 49 of the 50 states the last words of drivers in 61.2 percent of fatal crashes were, "Oh, $hit!"

Only the state of Wisconsin was different, where 96.4 percent of the final words were -
"Hey, hold my beer I want to try something!"

:rofl:
 
  • #21
russ_watters said:
Another important thing about New Jersey driving: It costs a lot of money to get out of New Jersey (every bridge has a big toll on the way out only - like $3), but it's worth every penny.

:rofl: I agree!

Though, that list was clearly written by someone who hasn't been in NJ for a while. Here's the more updated instructions:

The official speed limit throughout the state now seems to be 63 mph. Heaven forbid anyone should actually do the speed limit! :grumpy: Drives me bonkers. People drove faster when the posted speed limit was 55.

Who said not to honk? Oh, I get it, they're trying to trick the out-of-staters into revealing that they're from out of state. EVERYONE honks...as soon as the light turns green, it's just common courtesy to make sure the person in front of you knows it has turned green.

Never had a problem with mapquest in NJ...that's more a WV problem...they can't even find the roads in this state.

Skunks, dogs, cats, barrels, and cones aren't road hazards, they're just speed bumps. :uhh:

The city is pronounced Noo-rk, not Nork, and not New-erk. Don't stop there, for any reason, don't even slow down, or you will be shot.

Though, I do agree that it seems they move the EZ-pass lanes just for fun. Since I travel back there so much, I finally got EZ pass so I would stop having to worry about getting caught in the wrong lane at tolls, and wouldn't you know, they seem to have moved the lanes around and not all of them take EZ pass now, so I end up cutting across 5 lanes of traffic to get to one that takes EZ pass. That's very dangerous when you have WV plates and people don't expect you know how to drive in NJ.
 
  • #22
Doc Al said:
I learned to drive on the mean streets of Manhattan. :devil:

Have drivers in Manhattan gotten more courteous, or have I gotten meaner? I used to always feel like I was going to get run over trying to cross the street, even if I was walking entirely with the lights. Now, it seems like I can even jaywalk and they all brake for me (of course, I do give them that, "You can't afford the insurance hike if you hit me" look as I cross). But, really, it just seems much more civilized lately...it's almost disconcerting.
 
  • #23
Moonbear said:
EVERYONE honks...as soon as the light turns green, it's just common courtesy to make sure the person in front of you knows it has turned green.
Actually, it's the definition of a New York minute: The time between when the light turns green and the driver behind you honks their horn. Welcome back Moonbear.
 
  • #24
Doc Al said:
I have to drive from NJ to CT today. I hope I make it!

I learned to drive on the mean streets of Manhattan. :devil:

Tappan Zee Bridge is how I always go.

And by the way I love my EZ Pass :!)
 
  • #25
Redbelly98 said:
Tappan Zee Bridge is how I always go.
That's how I would get from NJ to CT too.

And by the way I love my EZ Pass :!)

:rofl: I'm probably the only person who is a resident of WV with a NJ EZ-pass. WV is goofy. They have EZ pass for the one little strip of toll road down in the southern part of the state, but instead of offering something like NJ where you get discounted tolls each time you use it (if you use it at the right hours), they do more of a "unlimited use of that section of the road at a flat monthly rate" thing, which is useless for anyone who doesn't live near the little section of toll road we have, so I just ordered my EZ pass from NJ. If I actually manage to drive during non-rush hour (I guess that's from about 10 PM to 3 AM) I get a discounted toll rate for using it I think...regardless, at least I don't get charged for not using it. Though, now I don't know what to do with the dish full of coins I've collected when I don't need them for tolls anymore.
 
  • #26
Moonbear said:
... now I don't know what to do with the dish full of coins I've collected when I don't need them for tolls anymore.
In grad school I used up coins in the vending machines at school, at the laundromat, and on tolls. Then I graduated and no longer used vending machines as a main source of food and drink. Within a couple of years after that I no longer went to laundromats, and started using EZ-Pass. Now those coins really pile up fast.
 
  • #27
Office_Shredder said:
In which city?

Trenton.
 

What are the traffic laws in New Jersey?

The traffic laws in New Jersey can be found in Title 39 of the New Jersey Statutes and cover topics such as speed limits, traffic signals, and right-of-way rules. It is important to familiarize yourself with these laws before driving in New Jersey.

Do I need a special license to drive in New Jersey?

If you are visiting New Jersey from another state or country, you can use your valid driver's license from your home state or country. However, if you are a New Jersey resident, you will need to obtain a New Jersey driver's license within 60 days of moving to the state.

What is the speed limit in New Jersey?

The speed limit in New Jersey varies depending on the area you are driving in. In general, the speed limit on highways is 65 mph, and in residential areas it is typically 25 mph. Be sure to pay attention to posted speed limit signs to avoid getting a ticket.

Are there any specific rules for driving in New Jersey?

Yes, there are a few specific rules for driving in New Jersey that you should be aware of. For example, it is illegal to make a right turn on red at most intersections in the state. It is also important to keep your headlights on when driving on highways and to always yield to pedestrians.

What should I do if I get pulled over by a police officer in New Jersey?

If you get pulled over by a police officer in New Jersey, it is important to remain calm and follow their instructions. You will need to present your driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. If you receive a ticket, you can either pay it or contest it in court.

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