Driving in Boston is a Blood Sport!

Big Mustache

Big Mustache

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Bushy Mustache
Just have to say that driving in the Boston area.....wow! Really? The most aggresive drivers I have ever seen in my driving career. Do Boston pilots fly like they drive? I have not flown in that area.
 
You should try driving in NYC. I have extensive experience driving in both cities, and I would say NYC is worse, especially all the yellow taxis.
 
Big Mustache said:
Just have to say that driving in the Boston area.....wow! Really? The most aggresive drivers I have ever seen in my driving career. Do Boston pilots fly like they drive? I have not flown in that area.
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DOn't look them in the eye when they are trying to merge lanes, this is the same as giving them permission. Just look straight ahead and do what you want :hairraise:
 
The very first time I drove in Boston, I got stuck in the traffic circle outside Logan. Went around 3-4 times before I learned not to look and just drive out and escape.

OTOH, nothing in all this time has surpassed the Embassy Driver I was assigned in Paris who had no qualms about driving on the sidewalk if there was a traffic jam.

Cheers
 
Apparently you've never driven in Italy. Or Paris for that matter.
 
Having driven in Boston and NYC, Boston in the worst. Now, I had long wondered why Boston drivers were so bad. Driving in Rome 20 years ago it came to me. There are lots of Italians in Boston. It must be hereditory. :D

It's simple to drive in Boston. One hand on the wheel, one hand on the horn and one foot on the gas. Changing lanes? DO NOT LOOK. If the other driver sees you look he knows that you know he is there and he'll cut you off.
 
The Colonial Army simply made all those one way streets to confuse the British - there are still elements of the Redcoats who are trying to find their way out of downtown since 1775 . . .
 
Get over it. It's christmas season...driving like suicidal murdering terrorists is an annual two month long event.
 
Went to Boston a few years ago for a Red Sox game. We drove down from Maine in a Crew Cab Silverado with an extended bed. We learned that day that pickups do not fit in the alleyways they call parking lots.

I go to Boston once a year for Futures at Fenway...my friends and I jump on the train in Portland, ME and walk from North Station to the ballpark. :yesnod:
 
I guess it's just not for the faint of heart.

:)
 
wsuffa said:
Apparently you've never driven in Italy. Or Paris for that matter.
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+1... driving in those places is like being a running back. You find a hole and go for it!! But it is great fun and miss it.
 
ja_user said:
DOn't look them in the eye when they are trying to merge lanes, this is the same as giving them permission. Just look straight ahead and do what you want :hairraise:
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Yeah, one thing I learned about driving in Boston is that looking at the other driver gives them the right of way.

The basic issue in Boston is that there are the written rules, and then there are the real rules. Once you learn the real rules, you'll be fine.

I found New York drivers to be tame by comparision.
 
jmp470 said:
+1... driving in those places is like being a running back. You find a hole and go for it!! But it is great fun and miss it.
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I enjoyed doing the circle at the Arc de Triomphe in the middle of afternoon rush hour!
 
Palmpilot said:
Yeah, one thing I learned about driving in Boston is that looking at the other driver gives them the right of way.

The basic issue in Boston is that there are the written rules, and then there are the real rules. Once you learn the real rules, you'll be fine.

I found New York drivers to be tame by comparision.
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Some simple rules:

The wreck has the right of way

If you make eye contact, you have lost and must yield.

Do not under any circumstances jump the green, except maybe to make a left turn. The yellow light is merely a warning that the light will turn red. There is a reason that the newer traffic lights have a delay before the light turns green... it lets the people running the red light get out of the way.
 
Bob Noel said:
Some simple rules:

The wreck has the right of way

If you make eye contact, you have lost and must yield.

Do not under any circumstances jump the green, except maybe to make a left turn. The yellow light is merely a warning that the light will turn red. There is a reason that the newer traffic lights have a delay before the light turns green... it lets the people running the red light get out of the way.
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And most importantly, don't worry about anything that's behind you.
 
The one time someone managed to successfully rear end me on a bike (many have tried) was in Beantown. And the cager who did it got out and started yelling at me.

I was grateful to the violent reputation earned by bikers worldwide, and nearly added to it that day.
 
The more I read about the overpopulated East, the less I want to go there. You guys can keep that silliness. ;)
 
denverpilot said:
The more I read about the overpopulated East, the less I want to go there. You guys can keep that silliness. ;)
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Everybody has silliness. Here in Taxachusetts I can collect rainwater and use it to water my lawn or garden. :)
 
denverpilot said:
The more I read about the overpopulated East, the less I want to go there. You guys can keep that silliness. ;)
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Don't have that problem here in Maine. Last I read we were around 1.3 million people in the entire state.
 
wsuffa said:
Apparently you've never driven in Italy. Or Paris for that matter.
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Oh, I've driven in Paris and Milan and Rome. Not the same thing. I find Boston far worse than NYC... NYC is one big moving traffic jam.
 
wsuffa said:
I enjoyed doing the circle at the Arc de Triomphe in the middle of afternoon rush hour!
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I have a video I took in 1992 on a Sunday morning where I was panning the Paris skyline from the top. You can hear in the soundtrack where the only two cars in that whole circle managed to collide. :D Driving into Paris on that trip I warned my wife that routing me through that circle would result in an instant divorce. We had been there in 1971 and I knew I wanted nothing to do with it.
 
It's not that bad. I do it every year visiting family. I'll be doing it again in 3 weeks.
 
comanchepilot said:
The Colonial Army simply made all those one way streets to confuse the British - there are still elements of the Redcoats who are trying to find their way out of downtown since 1775 . . .
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You owe me a new keyboard...

:rofl:

I learned how to drive a stick in NYC. NYC drivers, even the taxis, are wimps compared to Boston.
 
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My sister, after driving in California for a while, suggested someone round up a plane load of California pedestrians and fly then to Boston to walk around downtown for the day. She said no return tickets would be needed...:wink2:
 
Bob Noel said:
Everybody has silliness. Here in Taxachusetts I can collect rainwater and use it to water my lawn or garden. :)
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You can collect rainwater in pot-smoking Colorado too since 2010. So don't get too smug. They're going to have a decent sousage before you know it.
 
zaitcev said:
You can collect rainwater in pot-smoking Colorado too since 2010. So don't get too smug. They're going to have a decent sousage before you know it.
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What's a "sousage"? :)
 
Big Mustache said:
Just have to say that driving in the Boston area.....wow! Really? The most aggresive drivers I have ever seen in my driving career. Do Boston pilots fly like they drive? I have not flown in that area.
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It's not aggressive, it's just different. You only have a problem if you don't understand the rules:

1. Don't let them catch you looking. Looking means you're going to yield.
2. When entering the freeway or changing lanes, just go, everybody else will get out of your way.
3. And watch out for the blinking green traffic signal, nobody knows what that means.
 
My daughter learned to drive in LAS, from me, who had BOS experience.

She had no problems with BOS drivers when she left for college.

Remember, in LAS, we have to put up with all those LAX transplants.
 
Ghery said:
I have a video I took in 1992 on a Sunday morning where I was panning the Paris skyline from the top. You can hear in the soundtrack where the only two cars in that whole circle managed to collide. :D Driving into Paris on that trip I warned my wife that routing me through that circle would result in an instant divorce. We had been there in 1971 and I knew I wanted nothing to do with it.
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Not knowing any better, I once managed to get in the inside lane of that thing during rush hour - and went round and round before managing to escape. The next time I was there they had installed barricades to limit the circle to two lanes or so. It definitely helped. I would say that the traffic in Paris is the most vicious I have seen - anywhere.

Dave
 
Big Mustache said:
Oh, I've driven in Paris and Milan and Rome. Not the same thing. I find Boston far worse than NYC... NYC is one big moving traffic jam.
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Interesting - I've driven in Boston several times in recent years (my daughter is going to college there) - and have had no problems. Maybe I was just lucky. I'm glad that she doesn't have a car, though.

Dave
 
CBeaulieu said:
Went to Boston a few years ago for a Red Sox game. We drove down from Maine in a Crew Cab Silverado with an extended bed. We learned that day that pickups do not fit in the alleyways they call parking lots.

I go to Boston once a year for Futures at Fenway...my friends and I jump on the train in Portland, ME and walk from North Station to the ballpark. :yesnod:
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Don't walk! It's a long way unless you want the experience. From North Station, jump on the Green Line to Fenway.

My brother would drive from Gardiner to the first "T" stop, park there and take the T to Fenway. The T keeps running for one hour after the game lets out.
 
BillTIZ said:
Don't walk! It's a long way unless you want the experience. From North Station, jump on the Green Line to Fenway.

My brother would drive from Gardiner to the first "T" stop, park there and take the T to Fenway. The T keeps running for one hour after the game lets out.
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The cost of running the T for the 4-5 hour Yankee games is beyond the pale . . .
 
comanchepilot said:
The cost of running the T for the 4-5 hour Yankee games is beyond the pale . . .
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The T runs late anyway. When the game goes beyond midnight, they'll keep a few trams/trains running to get people home.
 
Big Mustache said:
Just have to say that driving in the Boston area.....wow! Really? The most aggresive drivers I have ever seen in my driving career. Do Boston pilots fly like they drive? I have not flown in that area.
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As a native Bostonian, I will agree with Bob--don't equate the pilots with the drivers.

And having studied in NYC for four years, the mantra I learned early on was: "In Boston you have to be afraid because the drivers don't know what they're doing; in New York you have to be afraid because the drivers KNOW what they're doing."

Good news is that in both cities, public transport is excellent.
 
I think drivers in D.C. are terrible. I'm too afraid to see what Boston is like.

Hell I think the pedestrians here are terrible. They just think they have the right of way. Why don't people understand it's 170 pounds versus 1.5 tons?
 
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