Driving in General
Parking lot driving is scary. Navigating the spot. Driving down the lane the wrong way. People backing up without even looking. I am surprised that accidents aren’t abundant.
Driving in the Hamptons takes the art of driving to an entirely different level. My guess is the majority of people out here during the summer, not during the winter, don’t drive during the year. They have spent years in living in Manhattan taking cabs, subway, bus or walking. No need to drive. Then they show up in the summer time and get behind the wheel. Yikes!
My biggest pet peeve is people don’t follow the rules of the road. Literally a driver will stop in the middle of the street to let someone turn or enter the road. If anyone remembers driving class in High School, there are rules of the road for a reason. Perhaps so there are less accidents. If everyone follows the rules, then things flow much easier. Out in the Hamptons, you really have to wonder what the driver in front of you is thinking.
Is there a reason they just made a turn without a turn signal? My best defense out here is to be seriously defensive. I will go out of my way to insure that I don’t have to make a left onto Route 27. I also don’t trust people even when they are using their turn signal. So, if I am making a left and all the cars coming down the road have their turn signal on, I still won’t make my turn. I wait until there are literally no cars. I could easily see a car just driving past their turn and plowing into my car. The four way stop signs are the scariest. It is like a game of cat and mouse.
The traffic is out of control too. I stick with the back roads when possible. The driving out here makes for good conversation. I am not the only one who is amazed with the crazy drivers, the impolite drivers, the insanity. We’re supposed to chill out here. It’s summer. It’s the beach. Follow the speed limit, remember the rules of the road and take it easy.
Comments (Archived):
I’m taking a Vienna-induced sabatical from behind the wheel and love it most thoroughly. My road rage has been converted to PT rage, however (Public Transit Rage) as I’ve become so spoiled by the perfection that is Vienna’s transit that I get irate when anything goes slightly wrong 😉