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From: mr@hou2h.UUCP (M.RINDSBERG)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Best Roads
Message-ID: <1118@hou2h.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 29-Oct-85 12:09:19 EST
Article-I.D.: hou2h.1118
Posted: Tue Oct 29 12:09:19 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Oct-85 07:23:21 EST
References: <1109@hou2h.UUCP>, <1028@druxo.UUCP>, <665@petsd.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 62

> Contrary to the negative report on the Garden State Parkway (also known,
> affectionately, as the "Garbage State Parkway"), it is by one measure the
> best road I have ever driven on.  No other road that I know of is easier
> and safer for FAST driving.  I am speaking primarily of the portion just
> south of NYC,

True.

> that has five lanes each way, split into two express lanes and three local
> lanes by a wide grass median.  First, the curves appear to have been
> designed to allow drunken business men in Cadillacs to get around them
> safely at 75 mph.  Second, the lanes are almost wide enough for two Hondas
> side by side.  Third, three lanes are MUCH better than two (readers are
> invited to calculate the difference in expected duration of an accdental
> travelling roadblock given three lanes vs. two -- answers in next month's
> column).  Fourth, potholes and cracks in the road surface are practically

In fact they repaved pert of it recently and I found no reason why
it had to be repaved.

> nonexistent and the most severe dip or hill in the road is barely enough
> to budge your suspension.  Fifth, and most important of all, the police,
> in an unfathomable display of common sense and decency (at least for N.J.)
> seem to have acknowledged that this road is indeed safe at higher speeds
> and do not seem interested in any cars going less than 75 mph.

This is the only road where I have driven side by side with a police car at
70 mph and being ignored as he sped by me (presumably to catch speeders going
over 70 mph)
> 
> In fact, uh... er... a friend of mine drove his Honda for six months every
> day on this road at speeds consistently between 75 and 85 without any near
> collisions with vehicles or micro-wave echo analyzers (the eventual collision
> of his car's pistons with its valves is another matter entirely, though quite
> possibly related).
> 
> Anyhow, this is why the average speed on this highway is about 70 to 75 mph.,
> with middle-of-the-night speed runs in excess of 133 mph not unheard of --

During the summer I used to come to work at the crack of dawn and once in
a while I would drive at otherwise unheard of speeds of 120-125 mph
especially at the hill right by the state police barracks (spite I guess).

> limited not by the road but by the presence of innocent bystanders
> (bydrivers?).  Although this writer certainly does not endorse or approve of
> any violations of state or local traffic ordinances, isn't it comforting to
> know that the police and other emergency vehicles could, if necessary, get to
> the scene of an accident so quickly?
> 
> To put it in a nutshell, the G.S.P. seems to be the closest thing that America
> has to an Autobahn, and its presence is the major justification for
> owning or operating an expensive German car in N.J.  If it didn't exist,
> the pressure of the Yuppie lobby would create it overnight.  :-)
> 
> Michael Condict			...!vax135!petsd!mikec
> free-lance consulting at
> Exit 109

Don't flame me. I am actually a very careful driver.

Mark					..!hou2h!mr
Exit 114