Dear TLS, I had in mind to send this before Yom Tov when it was a little more relevant, but nevertheless still is. I’ve moved here from Brooklyn approximately two years ago for several reasons. One of the reasons I moved from Brooklyn, is because of the noise level and traffic which frustrated me to no end. It may sound like petty reasons, but anyone who has lived in the city and has seen the life in the suburbs, knows its not a small difference, it’s a whole different life.
Which brings me to the reason for the this letter.
I was sitting in traffic on Clifton Avenue before Yom Tov and got stuck at a red light (not surprisingly probably the 4th time round for that particular block, but that’s part of the Yom Tov shopping and I don’t expect that to improve any time soon).
However, what bothered me was not the red light but after the light turned green. When it turned green, it took approximately a fraction of a second for the driver behind me to begin honking as if he or she were sitting in an hours long traffic jam on 13th Avenue in Boro Park, or there was a serious emergency. I understand you want to get to your destination and it can be quite frustrating sitting at a light when you’re in a rush, but the luxury of a 1-2 second ‘lee-way’ would be appreciated.
And no, I’m not one of those drivers who starts doing 20 things in my car when the light changes to red and forgets to look back up to see if the light changed yet. But there’s quite a difference of a short reminder honk after a ‘long’ 2 seconds of waiting, and an immediate “GOSH WOULD YOU PLEASE WAKE UP AND MOVE YOUR CAR” honk approximately 0.01 th of a second after the light changes.
Thank you.
(P.s. I don’t have a bumper sticker which reads “honk if you like my car”.)
Signed, a resident trying to preserve the serenity in the town.
(TLS welcomes your letters by sending them to tlsnewstips@gmail.com).
The New York second: The length of time from when the light turns green until the person behind you honks.
Live with it.
Perhaps the car behind you didn’t notice you were yielding to a pedestrian still in the crosswalk…..there are several pedestrian signs targeted on clifton ave.
The driver in back of you was probably from NY.
I was slowing down for a red light and this guy in front of me already at the red light was turning around in his van trying to do something and did’nt realize he was in reverse and took his foot off the brake. Within 2 seconds he bumped into me (after I honked as soon as I realized what was happening). I was horrified when the guy just took off without getting out to see if anything happened. I took his license plate number and lucky for his, only my license plate got smashed, otherwise I would’ve called the police. What is such a person thinking by just driving off, if there was damage to my car, he would’ve been in a lot more trouble.
If you think Lakewood is like Brooklyn, just go back to Brooklyn fo ra while. You will see there is still no comparison.
A “fresh” green has one of the most auto related accidents. It’s preferred and safer to wait a moment before proceeding through the intersection, when there still may be cars going through the red, or pedestrians who haven’t finished crossing.
To the above poster who had a hit and run. There doesn’t have to be any significant damage to you or your vehicle for that to be a crime. It’s still a Minimum of a 2 point moving violation for the other driver.
Horns are for avoiding accidents, not for expressing your discontent with other drivers (and certainly not to call for someone to come out of the house to catch their ride!!!).
You probably are the person that drove the three previous blocks very slowly causing the huge line of cars behind you to get stuck at three successive red lights. They were honking you becuase they were frustrated with your lack of concern for all those behind you who had a list of errands to do.
Just do what I do: If the guy behind me honks (for no apparent reason other than the light changed) I don’t move until the next light. I would love a bumper sticker that says “You honk, I stop” (There are exeptions, such as at the new four-way stops where I find that many drivers are confused about their right-of-way. In that case even I will honk eventually to alert the driver in front of me that she/he should go.)
After being in Lakewood over 30 years I can attest to the fact that this is, of course, not the only thing about Lakewood traffic that has become more like NY. I used to marvel at the fact that no one honked at red lights if you didn’t go immediately. I used to marvel at the fact that you could get from point A to point B in just a few minutes. I can go on and on. Too bad that some of the people who came from NY because of the more relaxed lifestyle (I am among those people), instead brought some of the NY stress here.
You should of moved to Montana
To #11: I think so too!