Day Off

So today I took a break from the usual grind and drove to the other side of Staten Island thru the morning and evening traffic. It started as a bit of an adventure, off on new roads to see new sights! Getting home tonight, whoa! do we have it easy. Road signs intentionally designed to miss-lead, roads that should be condemned five years ago and that's when I knew where I was going.

Memerable sights; a homeless Hindu man eating his breakfast on the side of the Van Wyck - the popadom looked delicous, the traffic in the Kill Van Kull, otherwise what a mess.

Thank god for Garmin, incredible time saver

Summer flow

So we are definitely in the summer flow. The density of traffic in the morning and afternoon has dropped off making the commute significantly more bearable. Beautiful cool mornings and warm afternoons makes this a great time of year to get out and do something. However it can all comes home on those Thursday and Friday afternoons with a bump when we an annual grid lock with everyone making their get-aways for the weekend.

So be it, the summer flow is here.

Crash

The rumor is that this section of I-95 is one of the most dangerous sections of road in the country. Like anyone that makes this drive daily, seeing a crash is practically a daily event. Usually they are in the other direction from me, as that is the direction of most commuter traffic. Most accidents involve two or three cars that have run into the back of each other. Accidents in my direction are usually worse, consisting of trucks or cars travelling or colliding at reasonable speeds and resulting in more damage and injury. Most people think that the most spectacular accident on this stretch of road was the bridge collapse over the Mianus River near Greenwich, CT back in the 1980's. Since I have been driving this road, I would elect the fire in Bridgeport, CT in 2006 that shut the road down for a week. No one was seriously injured and this gave us a chance to reflect on what an incredible artery of life this road is for many people.

When you drive this road you play a memory game, understanding and recording who is travelling near you and where will they be in 30 seconds? The funny thing is that during the one crash that I had, I did not see the vehicle coming up behind me. I was driving home in the middle lane, about 6 pm in the evening, and was hit from behind by a truck travelling at a high rate of speed. The driver was drunk. Before I realized what was happening, my car was hurled forwards into the central cement median and there was nothing I could do to stop it. After hitting the cement barrier, the car spun backwards and continued to spin around making multiple donuts across the highway, clipping a few fellow drivers on its way and ending up in the ditch on the far side. My car was damaged on all sides and both bumpers had been torn off and were lying in the road. Needless to say, my car was a total loss. Luckily, I walked away from the accident and bought another car the following day, so I could resume the daily grind. The truck that hit me immediately left the scene, but was picked up at the next rest area by the state troopers who confirmed he was drunk.

The crash cost me about $10,000 in cash and three months of physiotherapy to try to get my neck straightened out. I still have the neck issues, eventhough the insurance quack was convinced it was fine--sure, I love going to physiotherapy for no good reason. The driver that hit me is on probation and running around somewhere. I was just happy to walk away from this accident. However, I do look a lot more in my rear view mirror, way back, to see if a speeding truck is back there.

Personality

Personality
I leave fairly early to avoid the major traffic jams and keep the commute time as short as possible. I come back around 5:30pm and thus meet the inevitable congestion in Stamford, CT. The two commutes have two very different personalities.

In the morning, the traffic is fast and unless there has been an unintended meeting of two or more moving objects, then traffic jams are not an issue. Even the State Troopers appreciate that this is our time and during these times, they choose to "manage us" and let us keep the pace rolling. For some strange reason the traffic in the morning has a real aversion to using the right hand lane, preferring the center and left hand lanes. Trucks and cars both stay away from the right hand lane. However, I feel virtuous driving in it, enticing others to come over and join me.

The evening traffic is different, basically there is much more of it. It is much slower and you must relax or you will drive yourself crazy with the way it moves. No one knows why three cars going the same speed manage to block all three lanes simultaneously. It just happens. Does Drivers Ed teach you that? If you wait, eventually, one of them will break formation and the traffic will break through. Then, you are free...until you get to the next slow down.

Introduction

For the past ten years I have commuted daily using I-95, approximately 40 miles each way from New York to Connecticut. This section of I-95 is one of the busiest roads in the country. This blog will disuss nothing more than my daily, seasonal and completely abstract observations while travelling to and from work.

While I write it, I recognize (sometimes literally) that there are thousands of us doing the same thing and would welcome hearing from you, as I would like to get your perspective of the same daily grind. Please chip in with your comments and observations, as it will make this much more interesting.

During the ten years of commuting on I-95, I have seen ten complete cycles of our Northeast weather, witnessed great natural beauty, survived one significant accident and probably a hundred close calls, either from other drivers or from my own car slipping, sliding, hacking and splashing through the weather.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog and please contribute, as there is definitely more than just me on this blacktop of danger.