I-95 Hell today.

[SeaCat]

This morning my wife and I headed south to check out a few things. we left home at the odd hour of 1000 to avoid things like rush hour traffic. We got south of West Palm Beach on I-95 and Holy Sheet Batman.

I-95 went from two lanes to four then five lanes and the traffic went insane. It was so heavy we were slowed down to 55 (in a 65 zone) and it was nearly bumper to bumper.

Then it slowed to 45. I had a rig to my right and solid traffic all the way around. If I left a safety zone in front of me, just in case you know, some wing nut slashes through trying to get ahead. If I close it up a bit to keep my place in the traffic lane then the nut case in front of me starts riding his breaks to get me to back off. It's Road Rage Central.

I'm being a good driver. I'm watching my mirrors as well as in front of me. In my right mirror I see single headlights, then they vanish. They show up again in my left mirror and stay there, getting closer. I can't believe it, here's three guys on speed bikes lane splitting up my left side. These guys are moving fast, they scream past me like I'm sitting still. (I almost was.) None of them had gear on, and two of them were wearing shorts of all things. They're ducking and weaving as they scream through traffic. They're gone from my sight line within about a minute.

About ten minutes later we passed them. One of them was down, his bike a crushed mass between a pick up and the guard rail. The ambulance was just leaving. The other two were parked on the side of the road behind the accident and talking with a F.H.P. Motorcycle Cop.

I have no idea exactly what happened but I can guess. The uys on the bikes screwed up, one of them payed. (Although I'm sure they blame the guy in the truck and I'm also sure he's partially at fault.)

My wife and I finally arrived at our exit, got off the highway and went our merry way. We checked out several things, including a bike which I may buy. Our return trip was a bit longer but much more relaxed. We avoided the highway and drove north on U.S. 1.

I-95 was a bit more excitment than I wanted today. It kind of reminded of me of going through Jacksonville on a rainy night hauling an overloaded trailer.

Cat

 

[R. Richard]

When I lived in New York City I had to use I-95 from time to time. Now that I don't live in NYC, I don't use I-95 and I miss it, every chance I get!

 

[jomar]

I hate that road. Where I live, once you hit a certain stretch it's 70+ mph at bumper to bumper - nerve wracking. I take the scenic route.

 

[cloudy]

The nearest interstate is about an hour away. I don't miss it.

Of course, I have the four-lane kamikaze parkway to deal with, but it's nowhere near as bad.

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm being a good driver. I'm watching my mirrors as well as in front of me. In my right mirror I see single headlights, then they vanish. They show up again in my left mirror and stay there, getting closer. I can't believe it, here's three guys on speed bikes lane splitting up my left side. These guys are moving fast, they scream past me like I'm sitting still. (I almost was.) None of them had gear on, and two of them were wearing shorts of all things. They're ducking and weaving as they scream through traffic. They're gone from my sight line within about a minute.

About ten minutes later we passed them. One of them was down, his bike a crushed mass between a pick up and the guard rail. The ambulance was just leaving. The other two were parked on the side of the road behind the accident and talking with a F.H.P. Motorcycle Cop.

When I see motorcyclists splitting lanes like that I get a very strong urge to open my door for a second -- to spit, free up a trapped seat-belt, get itlatched properly, or something innocuous -- to remind them that a partially open car door is a lot like running head-on into a lightpole or bridge abutment.

Fortunately, I have always supressed that urge for several reasons -- I can't afford the increased insurance rates if I mis-time it; anything short of letting them hit the door won't get their attention anyway; making an idiot mad/scared takes what little mind they have away from actually surviving being an idiot.

I suspect that the pick-up driver didn't think about the probable consequences of "scaring the idiots into slowing down" when he got the same kind of urge I get.

Anti-social urges aside, my troubles are with an Interstate with a substantially lower number than yours -- I-15 -- and an interchange known as "The Spaghetti Bowl;" My daughter thinks I'm paranoid about driving on the Freeway(s) but I find that taking surface streets with 35/45 mph speed limits gets me where I'm going almost as fast as the freeways do -- with the added advantage of being able to detour around congestion and accidents.

I actually love driving the interstate system away from urban areas, but the inevitable islands of insanity that are urban freeway traffic make getting to the peace and quiet of what "free"-ways are supposed to be about amost more trouble than it's worth.

 

[keeblercrumb]

........ I-95 was a bit more excitment than I wanted today. It kind of reminded of me of going through Jacksonville on a rainy night hauling an overloaded trailer.

Cat

In the late 90's I was preparing to move to Delaware from England. I had been overseas in various places for about 6 years at that point.

Except for those living around the great Orbital Car Park around London, drivers in the rest of the UK are (or maybe were) courteous and a pleasure to be on the road with. Flashing your lights in the UK indicates, for instance, that you are allowing another driver to pull into your lane ahead of you so they may pass slower traffic. We don't even have a "signal" for that! Flashing your lights having almost exactly the opposite meaning in the US.. like "get the hell out of my way!").

I made a quick visit to Delaware to check out housing, etc., then drove down I-95 to Virginia to visit one of my daughters. It scared the living shit outa me!!! I had definitely forgotten the insanity that is I-95.

Tailgating, passing on the inside lane, weaving through lanes, "parking" in the outside or passing lane.... all were rampant despite all being as illegal in the US as they are in the UK. The difference is the ONLY traffic infraction enforced typically by State Highway police departments is speeding, except for obvious cases of DUI... Reckless driving? Forget it... Tailgating? Not even a blink from passing police.... In the UK, these would get you pulled over... at least when I was there.

But we have a billion dollar radar gun business in the US and we get what we pay for. Radar traps. Only.

Oh... there is one really good thing about I-95... about 20 miles of it goes through Delaware and we have a toll booth that nobody in Delaware goes through (we used local roads around). As a result, everybody from New York to Florida paid our Delaware taxes for us at $2.00 a pop. Thank you!!

As for the motorcycle riding between lanes... yeah... In all the years I rode my bike on the public highways... I was never tempted. I just don't get it. Why bet your life on some idiot not tuning his radio when you flash by?

I am glad you survived, Cat.

-KC