100 AAA members have won a free test of an experimental, plug-in car in Northern California.
One hundred Northern California households will be given the use of experimental, plug-in hybrid cars next year in the first widespread consumer testing of the super-high-mileage vehicles in the nation, under a program announced Tuesday by UC Davis transit planners and an auto club.
The households, to be chosen from the ranks of more than 4 million members of AAA of Northern California, will each have an eight-week loan of a Toyota Prius converted to run on batteries that are twice as powerful as those originally installed by the automaker.
The cars can easily get 100 miles per gallon on their combined power from electric motors and gasoline engines. They also spew out far fewer environment-harming emissions than even conventional hybrid cars.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Hollywood Goes Green
Ed Begley Jr. is leading the Hollywood Goes Green conference Dec.11-12. You'll be hearing more about this but one session caught my eye:
Easy Rider: Fuel Saving and Energy Efficient Vehicles MTV is giving its signature show "Pimp My Ride" a green makeover as part of MTV's public awareness campaign to persuade viewers to do their bit to slow global warming. Larry David drives a Prius in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." How can the depiction of cars in film and television influence public opinions and auto sales? Cars are among the top culprits for gobbling up the atmosphere by producing carbon dioxide emissions. In addition to the on-screen effort, what sort of programs can Hollywood adapt to reduce its dependence on automobiles? Hybrid cars for executives? Corporate carpooling incentives? Luxury vehicles with fuel-saving measures? More telecommuting to reduce auto emissions?
Easy Rider: Fuel Saving and Energy Efficient Vehicles MTV is giving its signature show "Pimp My Ride" a green makeover as part of MTV's public awareness campaign to persuade viewers to do their bit to slow global warming. Larry David drives a Prius in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." How can the depiction of cars in film and television influence public opinions and auto sales? Cars are among the top culprits for gobbling up the atmosphere by producing carbon dioxide emissions. In addition to the on-screen effort, what sort of programs can Hollywood adapt to reduce its dependence on automobiles? Hybrid cars for executives? Corporate carpooling incentives? Luxury vehicles with fuel-saving measures? More telecommuting to reduce auto emissions?
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Commuter Choice
Long Island Transportation Management recommends its
Commuter Choice Program
Given the rapidly rise cost of fuel, this isn't a bad idea.
The Commuter Choice Program is a voluntary program designed to assist Long Island employers with the promotion of commute alternatives at their worksite.
Free Commuter Choice Program services include:
Assistance with carpool and vanpool formation
Enhancement of your company's current commuter transportation programs
Help with relocation issues, compressed work week schedules, telecommuting and flextime
Commuter Information Racks with site-specific transit and rideshare information
On-site Commuter Fairs for your employees
Notification of Air Quality Action Days
As an employer, there are a number of excellent reasons why you should participate in the Commuter Choice Program. They include:
Increased productivity
Enhanced ability to recruit and retain valued employees
Improved employee morale
Gaining status as a community leader by participating in the Commuter Choice Program
Reduced congestion in your parking lot
Improved air quality
More pleasant work environment due to less stressful commute
Increased flexibility for hours of operation with alternate work schedules
Cost savings associated with telecommuting
Retaining employees when relocating
Access to state funded grant monies
Tax benefits for you and your employees: Employers can save on payroll related taxes and employees can save on federal income taxes
Commuter Choice Program
Given the rapidly rise cost of fuel, this isn't a bad idea.
The Commuter Choice Program is a voluntary program designed to assist Long Island employers with the promotion of commute alternatives at their worksite.
Free Commuter Choice Program services include:
Assistance with carpool and vanpool formation
Enhancement of your company's current commuter transportation programs
Help with relocation issues, compressed work week schedules, telecommuting and flextime
Commuter Information Racks with site-specific transit and rideshare information
On-site Commuter Fairs for your employees
Notification of Air Quality Action Days
As an employer, there are a number of excellent reasons why you should participate in the Commuter Choice Program. They include:
Increased productivity
Enhanced ability to recruit and retain valued employees
Improved employee morale
Gaining status as a community leader by participating in the Commuter Choice Program
Reduced congestion in your parking lot
Improved air quality
More pleasant work environment due to less stressful commute
Increased flexibility for hours of operation with alternate work schedules
Cost savings associated with telecommuting
Retaining employees when relocating
Access to state funded grant monies
Tax benefits for you and your employees: Employers can save on payroll related taxes and employees can save on federal income taxes
Bye-Bye Backwards
Who needs reverse?
The Tokyo Motor Show 2007 got under way Saturday and runs through November 11.
Honda's theme at this year's Tokyo auto show is "The endless joy of mobility on our earth," which involves reducing carbon dioxide emissions while keeping cars stylish and fun. To that end, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui this week unveiled the Puyo concept car. The Puyo, named for a Japanese phrase loosely translated as the "comforting sensation of touching," seats four and is meant to convey a feeling of "softness." Like the Pivo2 from Nissan, the Puyo also has a 360-degree rotation capability so reverse becomes a notion of the past.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Prius Owners
The Long Island Prius Owners Group will meet at noon Nov.11 at Dave & Busters
261 Airport Plaza Blvd., Farmingdale.
261 Airport Plaza Blvd., Farmingdale.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Going Hybrid
The always useful CNET is offering an online course in buying a hybrid car. Might be worth taking a look.
Motorcyclists and Traffic
Jeez, this is annoying. I just sent a complaint to the Suffolk County police. Lately, scores of motorcyclists have been going around in Huntington, blocking traffic as they enter or leave major roads. It just happened again up on Jericho Turnpike--bikers blocked all lanes of traffic in both directions and entering Jericho from either direction so their pack of friends could leave the Harley Davidson lot together. Everyone else, be damned. I would have liked to travel in a convoy to a music show Thursday night--good luck to me trying to stop traffic. Enough already--they don't have rights the rest of us don't have, no matter what they're doing. Why are the rest of us stuck waiting through two red lights so that they can claim ownership of the road?
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Vaporware of Cars
The Times takes on the much-ballyhooed idea of a gas-free drive.
Tomorrow’s Chevrolet: Two Vaporwares in Every Garage?
By Jerry Garrett
Vaporware is a term the computer industry uses to describe a new product that is hyped but never delivered. That term came to mind when I saw the new Chevrolet advertising campaign, “Gas-Friendly to Gas-Free.”
“I’ve heard the future,” the announcer tells an apparently gullible audience of children with their ears pressed to the hood of the Chevrolet Volt concept car, “and it hums.”
Actually, I’ve listened to the Volt too, and it doesn’t make any noise, much less hum. That’s because the show car is a mock-up without an actual powerplant. Where is the actual powerplant? It’s still on someone’s drawing board. Or perhaps it hasn’t even graduated from the designer’s imagination yet. Either way, it’s still vaporware. Until it’s real, it’s just make-believe.
Batteries for the Chevrolet Volt have yet to be invented.The ad campaign touts five ways that Chevrolet is seizing the auto industry’s environmental leadership, including mileage-improving cylinder deactivation programs, ethanol capability, hybrids, “gas-free” (if you drive less than 40 miles a day) “electric” vehicles like the Volt, and fuel-cell vehicles, such as the hydrogen-burning Equinox concept.
Just for Car Nuts
OK, you have to be a little nuts about squirrels to fall in love with this Jeep commercial, but it is extremely well done, if a little slow in getting started. Just go along for the ride; it's fun. The commercial, that is, and, I assume, the car.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Blog Action Day: Cleaning Green
Blog Action Day: Cleaning Green
It’s time to get rid of the unhealthy cleaning products in the house and use such natural items as borax, distilled white vinegar, baking soda, salt, washing soda (sodium carbonate), also known as soda ash, and lemons. Note that most of these products are readily available. We had trouble finding Borax for a while. I went to seven supermarkets over a period of weeks, looking for Borax but was met by blank looks by the 20-somethings.
I did find one manager who knew what I was talking about but said that Borax, like other products, such as Brillo and Spic-and-Span, had pretty much disappeared. (Stop and Shop, in particular, seems determined to reduce the number products it offers).
Then, suddenly, Borax reappeared on the shelves of the Waldbaum’s store near me, so I’ve been scooping up the boxes as I can.
If it’s not available in your nearest store, try Soaps Gone Buy, which offers Twenty Mule Team Borax, Fels Naptha and other seemingly lost products.
If you need convincing that shifting to these products is a good idea, study the labels of your commercial soaps. One day, when I had an especially ugly, sticky spill on my kitchen floor, I used bleach and a little dish soap and immediately felt sickened by the fumes. It turned out that the dish soap contained ammonia, and mixing it with bleach is a terrible idea.
I was further surprised to discover ammonia in some shampoo! So read those labels or just switch; it’s easy.
Here are some uses:
Lemon juice: We’ve also used lemon to clean the inside of the car. I frequently found myself coughing hard in the car, especially when the heat came on. Just spraying the air didn’t help; we keep a lot of papers and clothing in the car for different reasons and so the air is frequently dusty from those items. So applying some lemon to clean off the dashboard, reaching into the air vents and sprinkling some baking soda and then vacuuming it up helped the air quality a lot.
It also can dissolve soap scum. We have hard water in our neighborhood and soap scum remains on the bathtub. It works well to remove it, especially if mixed with vinegar or baking soda. You can also let it soak in the kitchen sink and pour it down the drain to remove odors. It also works to clean the kitchen floor.
Borax: all kinds of cleaning: countertops, laundry, floors. Boosts cleaning of clothes—will definitely brighten your clothes. We didn’t realize how dingy our bed covers had gotten from the dog—we washed the covers, of course, and they looked fine. Then we used Borax to supplement laundry soap and things looked much, much better, almost new.
Baking soda: Use about a half cup of baking soda, followed by a half cup of vinegar, as a drain cleaner. Those over-the-counter drain cleaners are about as toxic as you can get in a household product. It’s far less abrasive than commercial products.
Hydrogen peroxide: mix with water, spray on grout and areas subject to mold; let sit for an hour and then wash off with water. Kills mold and germs.
Vinegar: We use this for all kinds of projects: we use a bit to clean the dishwasher to kill germs, to kill mold or mildew, as a fabric softener (add a little during the rinse cycle), countertops, kitchen and bathroom floors. There may be a strong smell when first used but it dries and the scent disappears very quickly. And the temporary smell is nothing compared to the odor of bleach or ammonia, and there’s no harm remaining from using it.
It’s time to get rid of the unhealthy cleaning products in the house and use such natural items as borax, distilled white vinegar, baking soda, salt, washing soda (sodium carbonate), also known as soda ash, and lemons. Note that most of these products are readily available. We had trouble finding Borax for a while. I went to seven supermarkets over a period of weeks, looking for Borax but was met by blank looks by the 20-somethings.
I did find one manager who knew what I was talking about but said that Borax, like other products, such as Brillo and Spic-and-Span, had pretty much disappeared. (Stop and Shop, in particular, seems determined to reduce the number products it offers).
Then, suddenly, Borax reappeared on the shelves of the Waldbaum’s store near me, so I’ve been scooping up the boxes as I can.
If it’s not available in your nearest store, try Soaps Gone Buy, which offers Twenty Mule Team Borax, Fels Naptha and other seemingly lost products.
If you need convincing that shifting to these products is a good idea, study the labels of your commercial soaps. One day, when I had an especially ugly, sticky spill on my kitchen floor, I used bleach and a little dish soap and immediately felt sickened by the fumes. It turned out that the dish soap contained ammonia, and mixing it with bleach is a terrible idea.
I was further surprised to discover ammonia in some shampoo! So read those labels or just switch; it’s easy.
Here are some uses:
Lemon juice: We’ve also used lemon to clean the inside of the car. I frequently found myself coughing hard in the car, especially when the heat came on. Just spraying the air didn’t help; we keep a lot of papers and clothing in the car for different reasons and so the air is frequently dusty from those items. So applying some lemon to clean off the dashboard, reaching into the air vents and sprinkling some baking soda and then vacuuming it up helped the air quality a lot.
It also can dissolve soap scum. We have hard water in our neighborhood and soap scum remains on the bathtub. It works well to remove it, especially if mixed with vinegar or baking soda. You can also let it soak in the kitchen sink and pour it down the drain to remove odors. It also works to clean the kitchen floor.
Borax: all kinds of cleaning: countertops, laundry, floors. Boosts cleaning of clothes—will definitely brighten your clothes. We didn’t realize how dingy our bed covers had gotten from the dog—we washed the covers, of course, and they looked fine. Then we used Borax to supplement laundry soap and things looked much, much better, almost new.
Baking soda: Use about a half cup of baking soda, followed by a half cup of vinegar, as a drain cleaner. Those over-the-counter drain cleaners are about as toxic as you can get in a household product. It’s far less abrasive than commercial products.
Hydrogen peroxide: mix with water, spray on grout and areas subject to mold; let sit for an hour and then wash off with water. Kills mold and germs.
Vinegar: We use this for all kinds of projects: we use a bit to clean the dishwasher to kill germs, to kill mold or mildew, as a fabric softener (add a little during the rinse cycle), countertops, kitchen and bathroom floors. There may be a strong smell when first used but it dries and the scent disappears very quickly. And the temporary smell is nothing compared to the odor of bleach or ammonia, and there’s no harm remaining from using it.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Traffic Hazard Ahead--Us!
So, it's not just our imagination--Long Islanders really are hazardous drivers, not just because of congestion or speed but because of the way we disregard traffic rules. I can't count the number of times I've seen people use a turn lane to jump ahead of straight-ahead traffic. That's just one problem. Here's a really thoughtful piece on how dangerous we are making our roads.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Carpooling FAQ
Long Island Traffic Management organization has a q-and-a on carpooling:
Carpooling FAQs
Q: How much time will I save if I drive in the HOV Lanes?
A: You can save up to 20 minutes off of your commute – each way – if you drive in the HOV Lanes.
Q: If I were to join a carpool, am I committed to the carpool 5 days a week?
A: Absolutely not. You decide how many days during the week you want to drive with your carpool partner(s). As long as it works for you and your carpool partner(s), that’s all that matters. One day a week is better than none at all!
Q: What happens if the driver of my carpool has to work over time and can not drive me home or my child gets sick at school and I have to leave work unexpectedly? How will I get to her/him?
A: There is a solution – Guaranteed Ride. LITM will pay for your ride if your carpool driver is unable to fulfill his or her responsibility of the carpool. LITM will also pay for your ride to your child in the case of an emergency. Guaranteed Ride is your “insurance” to getting where you have to be when your carpool partner(s) can’t.
Q: Is a child considered a passenger in the HOV Lanes?
A: Yes, a child is considered a passenger in the HOV Lanes.
Q: How much does it cost to be part of a carpool?
A: The participants in the carpool determine the costs and details of the carpool. You are the people who are involved and you should be the people who make the decisions as a group. Usually the carpool participants split the costs while others rotate the driver so that if each person in the carpool drives equally, the costs work out evenly as well.
Carpooling FAQs
Q: How much time will I save if I drive in the HOV Lanes?
A: You can save up to 20 minutes off of your commute – each way – if you drive in the HOV Lanes.
Q: If I were to join a carpool, am I committed to the carpool 5 days a week?
A: Absolutely not. You decide how many days during the week you want to drive with your carpool partner(s). As long as it works for you and your carpool partner(s), that’s all that matters. One day a week is better than none at all!
Q: What happens if the driver of my carpool has to work over time and can not drive me home or my child gets sick at school and I have to leave work unexpectedly? How will I get to her/him?
A: There is a solution – Guaranteed Ride. LITM will pay for your ride if your carpool driver is unable to fulfill his or her responsibility of the carpool. LITM will also pay for your ride to your child in the case of an emergency. Guaranteed Ride is your “insurance” to getting where you have to be when your carpool partner(s) can’t.
Q: Is a child considered a passenger in the HOV Lanes?
A: Yes, a child is considered a passenger in the HOV Lanes.
Q: How much does it cost to be part of a carpool?
A: The participants in the carpool determine the costs and details of the carpool. You are the people who are involved and you should be the people who make the decisions as a group. Usually the carpool participants split the costs while others rotate the driver so that if each person in the carpool drives equally, the costs work out evenly as well.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Not Quite Ready
The state launched a new traffic warning system. Guess what?
BY STEVE RITEA
Newsday
The day after state officials unveiled $450,000 worth of electronic signage designed to alert drivers to traffic slowdowns on the Northern State Parkway, the system got its first test Wednesday after a truck illegally entered roadway, striking a low bridge and snarling traffic.
And the signs failed.
A system programmed to recognize only traffic moving faster than 10 mph went to sleep when drivers needed it most, with the computer assuming that slow traffic meant no traffic at all.
BY STEVE RITEA
Newsday
The day after state officials unveiled $450,000 worth of electronic signage designed to alert drivers to traffic slowdowns on the Northern State Parkway, the system got its first test Wednesday after a truck illegally entered roadway, striking a low bridge and snarling traffic.
And the signs failed.
A system programmed to recognize only traffic moving faster than 10 mph went to sleep when drivers needed it most, with the computer assuming that slow traffic meant no traffic at all.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Commuter Choice Awards
This is a little dated but still worth mentioning:
Ten Long Island Companies Recognized for Regional Commuter Choice Programs
In May 2007, the winners of the second annual Regional Commuter Choice Awards were announced, recognizing the outstanding commute alternative achievements of organizations in the New York metropolitan region.
The awards are sponsored by The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) in collaboration with the regional Metropolitan Mobility Network (MNN), and honored companies for demonstrating their commitment to reducing traffic congestion and air pollution via commuter benefit programs that encourage commute alternatives. The winners represent a diverse group of members of the Commuter Choice (www.commuterchoice.com) program, and resulted in the elimination of 60,000-plus car trips and more than one million vehicle miles traveled on regional roadways each week.
The Regional Commuter Choice Award recipients were classified as small (up to 100 employees), mid-range (100-500 employees) and large businesses (500 employees or more), which qualified for one of the following rewards (two organizations received honorable mention awards):
Leadership Award: For longstanding commuter benefit programs with multiple commute alternatives and a high rate of employee participation; a comprehensive marketing plan and a formal program evaluation showing environmental results.
Outstanding Achievement Award: For commuter benefit programs introduced one year ago or longer with a wide selection of commute alternatives and a high rate of employee participation.
Innovator Award: For a new or unique commuter benefit programs introduced within the last 12 months.
"Millions of people in the New York region sit in traffic, increasing air pollution, wasting gasoline and increasing their own stress every day," said Joel Ettinger, executive director of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. "The Regional Commuter Choice Awards recognize employers that are committed to helping commuters find a better, faster way to get to work. Reducing drive-alone commuting saves employees time and money, while reducing the congestion and pollution caused by so many cars on our roads."
Long Island Transportation Management and New York State Department of Transportation are pleased to announce that ten Nassau and Suffolk County employers were recognized for their leadership and commitment to getting workers to try alternatives to driving single occupancy vehicles to work.
The Nassau/Suffolk County winners are:
Large Outstanding Achievement
Geico
Northport VA Medical Center
Mid-Size Outstanding AchievementEppendorf/Brinkmann
Honeywell
Mid-Size Innovator Air Techniques, Inc.
Small Biz Outstanding Achievement
Girl Scouts of Nassau County
Leadership
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Honorable Mention
AHRC
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Town of Huntington
"We congratulate all of these Long Island companies for making the commitment to invest in commute alternatives for employees - an invaluable employee benefit that will help attract and retain a high quality workforce."
Marianne Carillo, President and CEO, LITM
For more information and to get your organization involved with Commuter Choice, call 877-4COMMUTE.
Ten Long Island Companies Recognized for Regional Commuter Choice Programs
In May 2007, the winners of the second annual Regional Commuter Choice Awards were announced, recognizing the outstanding commute alternative achievements of organizations in the New York metropolitan region.
The awards are sponsored by The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) in collaboration with the regional Metropolitan Mobility Network (MNN), and honored companies for demonstrating their commitment to reducing traffic congestion and air pollution via commuter benefit programs that encourage commute alternatives. The winners represent a diverse group of members of the Commuter Choice (www.commuterchoice.com) program, and resulted in the elimination of 60,000-plus car trips and more than one million vehicle miles traveled on regional roadways each week.
The Regional Commuter Choice Award recipients were classified as small (up to 100 employees), mid-range (100-500 employees) and large businesses (500 employees or more), which qualified for one of the following rewards (two organizations received honorable mention awards):
Leadership Award: For longstanding commuter benefit programs with multiple commute alternatives and a high rate of employee participation; a comprehensive marketing plan and a formal program evaluation showing environmental results.
Outstanding Achievement Award: For commuter benefit programs introduced one year ago or longer with a wide selection of commute alternatives and a high rate of employee participation.
Innovator Award: For a new or unique commuter benefit programs introduced within the last 12 months.
"Millions of people in the New York region sit in traffic, increasing air pollution, wasting gasoline and increasing their own stress every day," said Joel Ettinger, executive director of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. "The Regional Commuter Choice Awards recognize employers that are committed to helping commuters find a better, faster way to get to work. Reducing drive-alone commuting saves employees time and money, while reducing the congestion and pollution caused by so many cars on our roads."
Long Island Transportation Management and New York State Department of Transportation are pleased to announce that ten Nassau and Suffolk County employers were recognized for their leadership and commitment to getting workers to try alternatives to driving single occupancy vehicles to work.
The Nassau/Suffolk County winners are:
Large Outstanding Achievement
Geico
Northport VA Medical Center
Mid-Size Outstanding AchievementEppendorf/Brinkmann
Honeywell
Mid-Size Innovator Air Techniques, Inc.
Small Biz Outstanding Achievement
Girl Scouts of Nassau County
Leadership
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Honorable Mention
AHRC
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Town of Huntington
"We congratulate all of these Long Island companies for making the commitment to invest in commute alternatives for employees - an invaluable employee benefit that will help attract and retain a high quality workforce."
Marianne Carillo, President and CEO, LITM
For more information and to get your organization involved with Commuter Choice, call 877-4COMMUTE.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Canadian Trucks Speeding
Not all speeders are on Long Island. Note the speed limit is given in kilometers. His gauge indicates that he's driving about 90 kilometers, or about 55 MPH.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Bucolic? Well, Sometimes
The New York Times has a nice piece today about driving on Long Island. Despite the nastiness of traffic most days and most times, pleasant afternoon drives can be found.
My first real exposure to Long Island, moving here from Connecticut, was Jericho Turnpike. What a dismal introduction. All those many strip malls, with their endless entrances and exits that slow traffic.
My own neighborhood is getting more difficult to get out of. We're bordered on one site by a very busy county road that leads down to Jericho Turnpike. At the end of the other road, Dix Hills, also leading to Jericho, is a five-way intersection that has become nearly impossible to get through now. I don't know what has happened, other than the resetting of lights because of a relatively new grocery store but that intersection has become a real mess, with drivers making haphazard turns in front and to the side of other cars as they try to enter one of the five roads leading into the intersection.
My first real exposure to Long Island, moving here from Connecticut, was Jericho Turnpike. What a dismal introduction. All those many strip malls, with their endless entrances and exits that slow traffic.
My own neighborhood is getting more difficult to get out of. We're bordered on one site by a very busy county road that leads down to Jericho Turnpike. At the end of the other road, Dix Hills, also leading to Jericho, is a five-way intersection that has become nearly impossible to get through now. I don't know what has happened, other than the resetting of lights because of a relatively new grocery store but that intersection has become a real mess, with drivers making haphazard turns in front and to the side of other cars as they try to enter one of the five roads leading into the intersection.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
An Oldie But Goodie
This is one of those joke lists about Long Island drivers.
A right lane construction closure is just a game to see how any people can cut in line by passing you on the right, as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the orange construction arrows.
Turn signals will give away your next move; a real Long Island driver never uses them. Use of them in Massapequa may be illegal.
Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered "going with the flow."
Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. (For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs).
The new electronic traffic warning system signs are not there to provide useful information, they are only there to make Long Island look high-tech and to distract you from seeing the State Police car parked behind the grassy knoll.
Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.
Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork.
Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and not enforceable during rush hour.
Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Long Island driver, flashing his high beams behind you, doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.
Please remember that there is no such thing as a shortcut during rush-hour traffic on Long Island.
Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire.
Learn to swerve abruptly. Long Island is the home of high-speed slalom driving thanks to our State Legislature, who put potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
Seeking eye contact with another driver revokes your right of way, except in Garden City where it acts as an invitation to duel or play chicken.
The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.
It is traditional on Long Island to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes.
Never take a green light at face value. Always look right and left before proceeding; remember that the goal of every Long Island driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.
Gas will always be more expensive on Long Island because everyone's too busy to care!
Construction signs warn you about road closures immediately after you pass the last exit before the backup.
Throwing litter on the roads adds color to the landscape and gives Adopt-a-Highway crews something to clean up.
It is assumed that state police cars passing at high speed may be followed in the event you need to make up a few minutes on your way to work, or the beach.
Real Long Island female drivers can put on pantyhose, apply eye makeup, and balance the checkbook at seventy-five miles per hour, during a snowstorm, in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Real Long Island men drivers can remove panty hose and a bra at seventy-five miles per hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
All Long Island drivers are required to use a cellular phone while driving. It makes it easier to call 911 when they hit someone and the Police can respond more quickly to block off 2 or more lanes of traffic ... especially during rush hour.
And, finally ...
Heavy fog and rain are no reasons to change any of the above rules. These weather conditions are God's way ensuring the economic well-being of body shops, junk yards and new vehicle sales.
However, snow (no matter how light) constitutes a mandate to slow to 20 mph less than the speed necessary to deal with the condition. Ice, even if only patchy, is considered a reasonable excuse for not going to work and spending the day shopping instead.
A right lane construction closure is just a game to see how any people can cut in line by passing you on the right, as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the orange construction arrows.
Turn signals will give away your next move; a real Long Island driver never uses them. Use of them in Massapequa may be illegal.
Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered "going with the flow."
Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. (For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs).
The new electronic traffic warning system signs are not there to provide useful information, they are only there to make Long Island look high-tech and to distract you from seeing the State Police car parked behind the grassy knoll.
Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.
Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork.
Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and not enforceable during rush hour.
Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Long Island driver, flashing his high beams behind you, doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.
Please remember that there is no such thing as a shortcut during rush-hour traffic on Long Island.
Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire.
Learn to swerve abruptly. Long Island is the home of high-speed slalom driving thanks to our State Legislature, who put potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
Seeking eye contact with another driver revokes your right of way, except in Garden City where it acts as an invitation to duel or play chicken.
The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.
It is traditional on Long Island to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes.
Never take a green light at face value. Always look right and left before proceeding; remember that the goal of every Long Island driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.
Gas will always be more expensive on Long Island because everyone's too busy to care!
Construction signs warn you about road closures immediately after you pass the last exit before the backup.
Throwing litter on the roads adds color to the landscape and gives Adopt-a-Highway crews something to clean up.
It is assumed that state police cars passing at high speed may be followed in the event you need to make up a few minutes on your way to work, or the beach.
Real Long Island female drivers can put on pantyhose, apply eye makeup, and balance the checkbook at seventy-five miles per hour, during a snowstorm, in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Real Long Island men drivers can remove panty hose and a bra at seventy-five miles per hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
All Long Island drivers are required to use a cellular phone while driving. It makes it easier to call 911 when they hit someone and the Police can respond more quickly to block off 2 or more lanes of traffic ... especially during rush hour.
And, finally ...
Heavy fog and rain are no reasons to change any of the above rules. These weather conditions are God's way ensuring the economic well-being of body shops, junk yards and new vehicle sales.
However, snow (no matter how light) constitutes a mandate to slow to 20 mph less than the speed necessary to deal with the condition. Ice, even if only patchy, is considered a reasonable excuse for not going to work and spending the day shopping instead.
Blast From the Past
From the archives of The New York Times in 1901, an article about auto racing.
Long Island Automobile Club Secures the Coney Island Boulevard for a Series of Mile Contests.
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October 20, 1901, Wednesday
Page 8, 376 words
Twelve races, to establish, if possible, straightaway mile records, have been arranged by the Long Island Automobile Club for Saturday, Nov. 16, on the Coney Island Boulevard. Consent for this meeting has been obtained from Park Commissioner George V. Brower, and the officers of the Parkway Driving Club and the Pleasure Driving Association have also consented to assist in making the affair a success. Here.
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