What New York sucks at...

Having once taken a cab from Penn station, I can say this much: it would take me about five minutes to get in a car wreck in midtown Manhattan.

haha thats funny

I drove through downtown Manhattan last month. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The only thing that annoyed me was cabbies honking. The turnpikes getting there were another story.

Originally Posted by tagutcow

Click to expand...

Having once taken a cab from Penn station, I can say this much: it would take me about five minutes to get in a car wreck in midtown Manhattan.

Agreed...I would never drive through midtown Manhattan. Somehow I drove one of those 10' Uhaul moving vans from Chelsea to Spanish Harlem and back again without causing any damage.

The survey is completely flawed. First of all, they tested a total of 5000 people, that's too small a number to make a blank judgement.

Secondly, all the top scorers are in wide-open states like Idaho, Wisconsin, where the roads are easy to navigate.

I would counter that the ability to navigate in NYC, in such small geogrpahic space with such high number of obstacles (people, building, other cars, road side stuff) makes the average NYC driver the BEST.

Originally Posted by lee_44106

Click to expand...

I would counter that the ability to navigate in NYC, in such small geogrpahic space with such high number of obstacles (people, building, other cars, road side stuff) makes the average NYC driver the BEST.

NYC drivers are neither the worst nor the best. I think it can be quite disorienting to drive in NYC for people accustomed to open roads. As long as you're prepared to adjust to the local standards, I think one can drive anywhere comfortably.

Before my wife and I married, my future in-laws visited us in Manhattan from California. We didn't have a car at the time so we rented a van to haul everyone around. It was slow going initially until I adapted to the NYC style of driving. I remember quickly learning a few rules:
-- Lane markings don't mean much -- following the car in front of you is much more effective
-- Honking is an effective way of communicating quickly
-- Professional drivers know where their bumpers are and can negotiate very small gaps
-- When two drivers make eye contact, one has yielded the right of way

My future in-laws made some initial comments about my driving, but they quickly realized that I was actually pretty tame compared to others...and we were getting around faster than most of the other cars

Originally Posted by tiecollector

Click to expand...

I drove through downtown Manhattan last month. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The only thing that annoyed me was cabbies honking. The turnpikes getting there were another story.

I was looking at the traffic map on Google Maps a few Sundays ago in the mid-afternoon, and couldn't believe that some of the sections of the major thoroughfares were red. I'm used to pretty clear sailing on a Sunday afternoon, unless there's construction.

They asked people to take a written "rules of the road" type test. With out a doubt, NY and NJ would do the worst--- they don't follow the rules nor do they know them--- they are actually very skilled drivers though....

All the bad NYC drivers are driving in from Jersey.

Driving in Jersey is like going to war with your car. Its f'in cutthroat business.

Originally Posted by edmorel

Click to expand...

All the bad NYC drivers are driving in from Jersey.
+1!

Originally Posted by edmorel

Click to expand...

All the bad NYC drivers are driving in from Jersey.

Actually, most drivers in NYC are from Jersey. I've probably driven in both Jersey and NYC a lot more than either you or Conne, and I can confidently say that NY drivers are the worst. Any time there's a car in the left lane of a Jersey highway doing 60 holding up the cars behind that want to drive 80, you can bet your ass that it has a NY license plate.

As far as Manhattan, like I said, most of the cars that aren't cabs have Jersey plates. Not too many of you New Yorkers cruising down to midtown in your cars.

Originally Posted by Connemara

Click to expand...

+1!

Conne, you *****, have you ever even driven in Manhattan?

I never drive in NYC but Jersey sucks royal ass. My sis complains about Forida and doesn't accept it when I tell her she hasn't seen crap.

Drove through the Bronx a couple weekends ago for my buddy's wedding at Fordham University Church and it was like I was in the 3rd world with cars "parked" in lanes and people walking across the street as they please.

I find it strange that when I was in Minneapolis, I would often see 3 or 4 cars in a row running red lights, people would change lanes without signaling, and did basically everything you weren't supposed to do. I see way less of that here in San Diego and Orange County, yet California is ranked 40 states below Minnesota.