Dear TLS Readers,
I am writing this letter to the driver on sunset road who was tailgating me the entire way. When I got to the stop sign at the corner of James, you apparently were not expecting me to come to a full stop at the stop sign because you nearly slammed into the back of my car. You expressed your frustration by honking your horn and waving your hands at me. Not only did you risk your life, and my life, but the life of my terrified daughter in the back seat.
To those who need a reminder. A stop sign is just that, a STOP sign. It is not a slow down sign, it is not a coast-past-me sign. It is a STOP sign and you are required by LAW to come to a full, complete stop AT the sign, not past it. Only once you have come to a full stop at the sign, are you permitted to slowly pull forward to continue on. I understand that you were mad that I came to a full stop and you nearly hit me, but if you were prepared for me to stop, and you were keeping a safe following distance, we could have avoided this terrifying encounter.
THE LAW:
N.J.S.A. 39:4-144 Failure to observe Stop or Yield signs 2 Points
Here is an excellent video on the proper, and improper way to stop at a stop sign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHwt-Xh8pYM
Indeed a horrible custom that this town’s drivers seem to follow. It is a gut-wretching experience to drive here (and I’m from Brooklyn) never knowing if you will be popping that sign. Sliding thru the intersection is simply a rude way to drive.
Another major issue in Lakewood is 4 way stop signs! First person who reaches the stop sign goes. If a few cars reach the stop sign the same time, the one on the right goes first….. U can’t follow the car in front of u! Wait ur turn!!!!
how did some of these people ever get their liscence ???
I hope Ed Hornak doesn’t start tearing down stop signs
Thanks for posting this story. This is something I see ALL the time. 9/10 times, drivers in this town DO NOT properly stop at a stop sign. why can’t you follow the laws of the land, and keeping everyone safe?
Yes, it’s an issue, but as seen on the video it is not specifically a Lakewood problem, as some comments implied
Very cute/real video, so the problem is not isolated to Lakewood.
The problem in Lakewood is that it is heavily vehicle populated, and the roadways are just not designed to handle so many cars. all the drivers are in a hurry and frustrated that no matter which way they turn, they seem to allays get stuck in a traffic jam. So this poor lady and other inexperienced race track drivers are often pressured by the professional impatient racer to speed up and move out of the way. The inexperienced driver gets flustered and often does something stupid (involuntary) crashes or causes a crash. Well the race driver should be arrested for aggravated assault and should be held responsible for the damage he/she caused.
hearthstone is a residential neighbor please please please stop at the stop sign, and please the speed limit is 25 miles an hour. please obey these laws, don’t want to see someone get hurt.
#3 they probaly got it from shoprite or wal-mart
meant to write residential neighborhood.
you are right, its not just a lakewood problem, but we live in lakewood so it affects us most here, and we are addressing the problems here at home
It was I who did that and I’m very sorry its just that I was in a big rush and I felt you were going a bit too slow but please forgive me I will make sure it won’t happen again
Defensive Driving course should be required for every Yeshiva Bochur and girl!!
True. But drivers who drive in a 35 mile zone at 15, can make someone a bit crazy.
I was coming out of villas and a lady went straight thru stop sign at agway coming out of kew gardens. If you re coming out of agway please come to a full stop.
Maybe if we put a picture of a hand…
I got severely injured by someone that went straight through a stop sign. It’s not just ALL ABOUT YOU when you are on the road!
You can’t teach courtesy. A persons personality is reflected in the way they drive.
I have a bumper sticker that says – I may be slow, but, I am in front of you.
Most people seem to zoom right past a stop sign as if they have no intention of stopping and then they stop. I honk at everyone I see doing that, when I am passing them because I don’t know that their intentions are to actually stop by the way they are driving. I consider myself a careful driver and a polite one to. I usually let people into my lane when they are trying to get in etc.
Have you ever been driving down central towards jackson and a car comes flying out of westgate, completely blowing the stop sign, which is placed far back from the road for a reason, and only stopping at the last second , inches from the road. my heart stops every time that happens, anyone else have this experience too?
Impeding the flow of traffic (driving well Under the posted speed) has a minimum penalty of 2 Points.
Tailgating has a minimum penalty of 5 Points.
If the speed limit is 35 mph, that is the Fastest one should be driving in that area.
lets have a day of no ticket ticketing.
either local groups or police post some one at random or high volume intersections and stop people who violate the law of safety, or common sense. they ticket for not driving safe or correctly. the driver learns and get scared for a moment to reassess their driving habits.
There would be no fine unless its a blatant violation, like running a stop sign or red light etc.
maybe a moment of fear will shake up, and educate the Lakewood residents, both Jewish and non Jewish the same.
You didn’t publish my letter about bike safety that I wrote last week. A boy zoomed right into a street without stopping at the curb to see if a car was coming and I almost hit him when turning left from Forest into the side street. He didn’t even seem disturbed when I honked at him but, rode merrily away. Did he not realize that he almost got killed or hurt? Maybe he learned how to ride from his father who never stops at stop signs.
That is a great idea but it would never work in this town, since cries of antisemitism will be heard the moment the first ticket is given.
Another thing to think about when coming to a Stop sign. If there are pedestrians crossing the street, by not stopping you risk hitting children, mothers, fathers, etc.
Also, when attempting to turn right at a red light, you must Stop your vehicle completely just as one is legally instructed to at a Stop sign.
A driver should periodically review their driver’s manual to remind themselves of laws they may have forgotten or been lax about.
i noticed this issue with stop signs as well. It is particularly bad in developments where there is little police presence and people know that their chances of getting ticketed are slim.
I think every driver should be required to be re-educated and re-evaluated on their driving skills to enhance the road safety of our towns. people are jsut too used to breaking the rules 1/2 the dirvers out there have forgotten basic driving safety.
as for all ways, Park and 4th is a disaster, they should put a light there.
Cars coming out of the Villas almost never stop at the stop sign & it’s the agway people that nearly get hit.
It’s very frustrating when the driver behind you at a stop sign thinks he knows better than you when it’s safe to go and lets you know his opinion with his horn.
All too often I’m driving on Central Ave when people cut right in front of me because they did not stop at their stop sign. It makes me very concerned and evern nervous even driving on that street. Stop signs are put in place to be observed for the safety of others. Please follow the laws!
It would take almost the entire police force to control the bad driving habits of those in the James St, Sunset, and Williams St area.
James St is too straight of a road and is seems sometimes people try to see how fast they can get thier cars going there. Sunset, people choose to ignore the stop sign. Williams St is a 25 mph street and people are in too much of a rush to obey it. Children are playing on and near Williams. Its an accident waiting to happen. No one stops at the stop signs coming onto Williams. They race across, disregarding the stop sign, and run up the side street to the highway. If you do do the speed limit on Williams theres a strong possibility your gonna going to get passed. And dont try to make a turn onto another street or into a driveway on James. You might get run into and at the least obnoxious horn blowing along with nasty fascial gestures, arms flailing, and or obsenities shouted at you. Lakewood could pick up quite a bit of buget shortfall by enforcing traffic laws on these 3 streets, but then we would have people crying they were being picked on, and see our offices spoken about in blogs in derogatory ways, but then again, a life might be saved.
It’s especially dangerous to go around someone and make a right turn. If someone is waiting at a stop sign until he/she thinks it’s safe to proceed NEVER go around them (it’s happened several times to me). What if he/she decides to go straight ahead when you are making a right turn from behind them, and going around his/her left to make that right. That is asking for trouble!
lakewood resident says:
June 30, 2010 at 9:57 am
how did some of these people ever get their liscence ???
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they got them from the same place you got your excellent spelling skills from!
Just Curious, How fast (or slow) were you driving down Sunset St? I don’t condone this persons actions but if you were going down Sunset way below the speed limit, I get his frustration. You broke the law the same way. So..
To #33
Please read post #25 (It may help put things into perspective for you.)
I was doing the Speed Limit, no more, no less.
To #33
Meant to type Post #21.
And another thing, a no turn on red is just that NO TURN ON RED!!!! I see people do all the time, there is a reason some traffic lights have that. Also NO PARKING THIS SIDE means just that, or can’t some people read? To comment on some of these posts the posted speed limits signs are there for a reason I have seen one TOO many times people flying up and down these streets like they’re qualifying for a race. It’s 25 in MOST of the residential areas. SLOW DOWN!
perhaps we should upgrade our english programs in all the yeshivas. Maybe we can sombat the ignorance of thedrivers who think they know it all. Did they really test correctly when getting their driver’s license or did they just study to pass the test?
It was only a stop sign. Nobody want a ticket for parking when the sign says no parking. So why should you obey the stop sign?