My Crazy Driving Blog

Be sure to watch your speed in NJ!

2008-02-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Not sure how NJ is in so much "debt" but supposedly we are. Anybody who lives here knows how expensive it is!
This blew my mind when I heard about it. NJ is estimating to make $9 million from speeding tickets in 30 days. The major highways 78, 287, 95, 195, 295, 80, 280 and let's not forget the Garden State Parkway will all have increased state trooper activity. The state issued 30 new cruisers and will have 50 troopers on duty at all times patrolling these major highways. Troopers are supposed to pull over a vehicle and issue a ticket every 10-20 minutes.
Remember the days of 70 mph being safe in a 65 (heck, most of the time 75 was ok too) well not anymore! 70 in a 65 can justify a ticket.
Just a heads up! Be safe oh and welcome to NJ!!!!

Yes professional drivers mess up too!

2007-12-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

I talk a lot about crazy car drivers. Please do not think I am trying to say professional drivers don't make mistakes. Here is an example of a common mistake made by "professionals"

What was the craziest thing I have seen somebody do while driving

2007-12-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

I have seen a lot of crazy things in my time of driving. I was recently asked what was the craziest thing I have seen somebody do while driving. I really had to think about this because I knew it would be hard to narrow it down to one thing! I had to point out 2 people because I could not decide which one surprised me the most. We have all seen women putting on make-up while driving and men shaving while driving (at least probably anybody who has driven in New Jersey.) But in one day, within 10 minutes apart and both on the Garden State Parkway during rush hour traffic-yikes-I saw a women using her vents to blowdry her hair and a guy reading the newspaper, not glimpsing at the paper he was actually reading it! Neither of them were really looking at the road. And to give you an idea of this crazy highway, you will go from 65 mph to 0 in seconds in rush hour on a normal day. Oh and they were both tailgating too, not sure if they made it to work that day!

What was this guy thinking?

2007-12-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

This story is compliments of a very good friend of mine. He drives a tractor trailer. He was driving down the highway and a little pick up truck started drifting over towards his front bumper. He looked at the guy and realized the driver of the pick up had the cell phone in one hand and was typing on his laptop with the other hand. The guy was also using the hand with the cell phone to write stuff down on a piece of paper on the steering wheel! My friend layed on the air horn to keep the guy from hitting the bumper and the pick up swerved across three lanes of traffic. I would hope that the guy decided to put everything down and concentrate on driving but I do not know if he was smart enough to figure that out. After all shouldn't he have thought of that before he almost hit a tractor trailer!! This just goes to show there are all kinds of drivers out there, please be careful.

Yesterday's close encounter

2007-12-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was driving through an intersection (yes with the bus) and I had the right away as I was going straight. This guy was across from me with no blinker on and waits until I get right in front of him to decide he is turning left and proceeds right in front of me. Do not ask me how I stopped in time when he did it about 20 feet in front of me! Luckily for him I was not going fast, the light had just turned green. The kick in the butt was he looked at me almost like he looked through me and went. Then he waved to me and you can see his mouth say thank you. Thank you?? For what not hitting you? Funny part was he was leaving the hospital when he cut me off, he is lucky he did not go back in!

Yes these were actually said after accidents

2007-12-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

I have been driving a bus for about 4 and a half years and I have friends and relatives who drive buses and trucks. Here are some things people have told officers when they caused an accident with a big vehicle:
"I did not know I hit your bus, my radio was too loud." Then tells officer, "I did not think I hit the bus but I thought I hit the brakes too hard and that is why I stopped suddenly."
"I flew behind the bus to get out of it's way. I did not know it was backing up" The guy was responsible for all damage to his vehicle. No damage to bus or he would've been responsible for that as well.
Here is a case where a guy hit a truck. He tried to pass it on the right as the truck was turning right. First he told the cop "The truck had his left turn signal on" After talking to the truck driver the cop came back to the guy who now changed his story and told the cop "he must've turned his blinker on at the last minute, I did not see a blinker." Should've just said, I wasn't paying attention.
And my favorite- a guy rear-ends a dump truck and says "I didn't see him." And you drive??

Bus vs car, a safety tip

2007-12-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

There are my any times I am cut off by a car in a day. They try to squeeze by me at the last minute during a merge or they sneak out right in front of me. Is it that they are that blind that they couldn't see a big white and green bus coming? Or are they in such a hurry that they throw their own safety out the window? Or maybe they do not realize the seriousness of a bus and car colliding. Let me explain something to any of you that have done this. Yes obviously the bus or truck you cut off is going to try to stop before hitting you but it takes a lot more for us to stop. You wouldn't have gone in front of another car at that point why do it to something that does not have the ability to stop like a car and outweighs you? Not only that but think about how many times you look down or to the side of the road for a second and then look back ahead, what if the bus driver was doing that at that second?
When you cut in front of a bus or truck think about this-if we can't stop what would 30,000-80,000 lbs do to your 1000-3000 lb car? Then think about what would happen to you, if you live it would not be pretty!
Please I am not telling you this because I think you slow me down getting to my destination by cutting me off, I am doing this because I do not want you to die in a fatal crash.

One lane road

2007-12-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

By driving for county transportation I drive down any road that the bus will fit and up any driveway that the bus will fit. When I say the bus will fit I mean the mirrors are not hitting trees and there are no underpasses too low to permit me from traveling down the road.
I was on these back roads that the bus is amost the width of the road this week. That to me is a one lane road. However while driving down one of these roads, and take note when I say back road I mean little dirt road, I encountered a sign that said One Lane Road Ahead. What is this? The bus just fits on the road, it is a one lane road do you actually mean this road is going to get smaller? I am already hoping not to encounter any oncoming traffic! Needless to say they were working on the road and the construction barrels took about a foot and a half off of the width of the road. They then classified it as a one lane road!
The worst part is that the first time I went down these roads I made a wrong turn onto the wrong dirt road. Some of my passengers can give directions and some cannot. They told me to make a left at the Y so I made a left. A little down the road I heard them say Uh-oh! Not what I wanted to hear, it's not like I can turn around any where any time soon! However I made it out of there and got everybody home safely.

Welcome to my crazy driving blog

2007-12-01T05:27:00.000-08:00

Along with being an Entrepeneur, I am also a professional driver. I drive a bus for local county transportation. This blog is about crazy stuff that I see throughout my travels. Believe me I see crazy stuff everyday! I would also like to invite other drivers-especially truck drivers to contact me if you would like to add a post here.
I live and work in New Jersey, which I am sure most of you have heard our Insurance rates are through the roof! After reading about some of my experiences you will understand why our rates are so high.