There’s truly not much in New Jersey that is scary. I mean the only scary things I think of when I think of NJ is the Italian mob, the story of the New Jersey Devil, and that’s pretty much it. Yet, nothing compares to the complete fear one fears when pulling onto the Garden State Parkway.
The Garden State Parkway is infamous for absolute driving craziness. Jersey people call this highway in specific the racetrack, not a highway and it’s for good reason. While the speed limit on the highway varies between 55-65 mph, I don’t think I have ever seen someone driving below 75 mph. Even the people going 75 mph are considered slow drivers and your likely to see them being tailed by others crazy NJ drivers.
Now you might be wondering how a discussion of a highway fits in with my usual blog posts about the beach. The reason I am discussing the Garden State Parkway is because it’s the main way I get to the shore. I take the Parkway almost directly from my house in Northern Jersey to South Jersey. It’s about an hour ride to and from both houses and each time the ride is complete madness.
Now I don’t know if you have heard the reputation about Jersey drivers, but if you haven’t, I’ll explain. Jersey drivers are notorious for being extremely aggressive drivers. They swerve in and out of lanes and are constantly speeding. If you’re not driving as fast as they are, you’re going to be tailed by them and they’ll probably flip you off along the way. Oh, and they also despise Pennsylvania drivers because they think they drive too slowly. Now imagine giving these hyper-aggressive drivers a four-lane highway that is mostly straight. It’s havoc.
I have to drive on the Garden State Parkway a lot, mostly to go to the Jersey Shore and every time I drive on the Parkway I watch near-accidents and have even seen my fair share of accidents happen real-time right in front of me. In fact, I have been hit on the Parkway by an out-of-control driver. Entering onto the Parkway is also madness because no one is nice enough to let anyone merge. People swerve in and out of lanes, with the belief that their near-accident or death experience was worth it for the extra ten seconds shaved off their trip.
The Parkway is defiantly a place I would recommend avoiding but at the same time, driving on it is truly an experience. It’s up to you if you want to risk you bodily safety for the experience, just know I do without opportunity almost every day.
This story is funny and relatable. I recently got my license before going to college and I was so scared of driving on the highway. I drove from Philly to New Jersey and both were not fun at first at all!
This is quiet a funny post. As I’m have mentioned earlier I have lived in NJ for some time, i dint get a chance to drive there, but I have always heard the comments about the driving in Garden State. It was interesting to hear another perspective, comment on this subject. Good job!
I really enjoyed the humor in this post. The only big city I’ve had to drive through is San Francisco and that was challenging enough, I can’t imagine what driving in Garden State after how you described it.