Yes, x, you are right. Native New Yorkers have learned how to change lanes. They cut off anyone in their path. If the other car is scraped in the process, that's their problem. Those of us from outside who were raised with manners have a hard time just cutting in front of others.

"Native New Yorkers".....is that like Native Americans?<BR>Do you mean people that live in NY or just those that are born here?<BR>I want to get the insults straight, should I or should I not be included in this whinefest?<BR>California has scarey highways,sorry,Freeways.They shoot at you if you cut in line in front of them!<BR>In the South, they carjack you for your BMW and leave you dead by the side of the road.<BR>Every state has some kind of big city and traffic and outoftowners have a hard time figuring their way around.<BR>Why is this such a big trauma for people? They got in the wrong lane in NY,a cop yelled at them for being stupid,they cried about it here, and now everyone is doing the same old Let's gang up on New Yorkers and insult them some more.<BR>Sheesh, get a life guys,there is more bad stuff going on these days than having a problem with traffic.<BR>We should all wish that is the worst thing we will ever have to deal with.<BR>

Well Said New Yorker!!<BR>Heres wishing everyone a safe drive no matter where you live.

Nope, in the South if you scraped our cars while cutting us off, that would constitute you getting your ass beaten within an inch of your life.

t

Oh Puhleeeze New Yorker. I am SO sick of New Yorkers using 9/11 as a sympathy ploy. What happened was terrible, but it's no excuse for rude behavior, and IMHO, that cop exhibited extremely rude behavior. It's difficult for TOURISTS to drive around New York and get in the correct lanes. I know some of you superior New Yorkers think it's a breeze but believe me, it's not. So instead of ticketing the novice visiting drivers, who may not have even heard of EZPass, why not make more of an effort to give advance warning to drivers about which lanes are cash and which are not, and give the poor tourists a warning instead of a fine?<BR><BR>I'm quite sure this guy made an HONEST mistake, despite that some of you cynics believe he was just making up an excuse to get out of the fine.<BR><BR>To the x's who live here in New York, yeah it's easy for you, but are you too stupid to try and understand what it might be like for someone who doesn't normally drive through cities? And for whoever said people who don't use EZPass are technology resistant, are you too arrogant to realize that there are people in this country who may only use it once, and who have actually never even heard of it? Consider yourself enlightened to the fact that not everyone is savvy to New York and it's roads.

Diane if your husband's driver's license has been issued by a state other than New York, don't pay the fine. His license can't and won't be suspended. The NY DOT doesn't have jurisdiction, like any other DOT, over other states. <BR>He'll have a problem only if he applies for a NY driver's license. They'll ask him to pay the fine and penalty fee.

Don't listen to Joe, perhaps he hasn't heard of what computers can do. 48 states (all except Michigan and Wisconsin) have agreed to the "Non-Resident Violator Compact" or "Driver's License Compact" and share info about violations. They're helping each other get this revenue. Pay up or else!<BR><BR>http://www.aamva.org/drivers/drv_compactsNRVC.asp

Sorry to disappoint you Jim but I've been ticked it NY this year and I just renewed my license in my home state (not Michigan or Wisconsisn) and guess what, no fines at all. I don't think that system you're talking about works or was meant to be for that purpose.

Oh for the love of Pete! Why does this warrant a discussion. Diane had a bad day. So what? Stuff like this happens every single day, whether you lose the $40 shirt you just bought, or you drop your keys down the garbage shute, or you get a parking ticket, a bad haircut, ripped off by the dry cleaner, WHATEVER! Get over it. This won't be the last time. Why is this something you need to WRITE about? Sheesh. How do you get through life!

Well, Joe, the system is just for moving violations like Diane's, not for parking tickets. And I assume that other violations aren't reported interstate until they're delinquent -- which can be 60 or even 90 days after the offense. Perhaps you'll get a surprise next time, or when you go to renew your auto registration, eh?

DON'T listen to Joe! I got a ticket at 2AM on Labor Day, 2001 as we entered the Cinncinatti area. I didn't realize the speed had dropped. The fine was due in 2 weeks. No problem. Except that Sept 11 happened. ALL air traffic was suspended. Did you know that all mail traveling over 500 miles is "air mail" today? Mail delivery during that time was significantly delayed. The payment of my fine arrived the morning after it was due. They immediately notified my state who immediately suspended my license. Yea, I know, I should have called Ohio and let them know, but hindsight is 20/20. It was an expensive mistake.

Jim it was a driving violation I got ticked it for and it was well over 90 days when I renewd my license. It's been almost six months since then and still no letter and I won't be getting one. <BR>

Another NewYorker-What does 9/11 have to do with anything? except for nyer saying that the police have a little more on their minds these days than worrying about hurting the feelings of clueless drivers!<BR>I have driven in a few different states and countries, and have never felt the need to write in to a travel site and complain about being busted for bad driving.<BR>I think Diane and her hubby should just put this down to one of lifes many little annoyances.<BR>Although I do understand that threads like this are fodder for those with big complaints about All things New York.<BR>

Yet another example of why tourists shouldn't attempt to drive cars in NYC. Next time take public transportation into the city Diane. That way you can't delay and inconvenience all of those drivers who got stuck behind you in the EZ Pass lane.

Here's a thought: cities that depend on tourism's income are -- or should be -- more likely to make the area comprehensible and navigable for strangers. Cities whose economy is pretty much independent of tourism feel no need to make things easier for strangers. <BR><BR>New York hardly knows anyone even exists outside the metro area and generally thinks anyone who DOES live elsewhere is not very smart -- if they were pretty smart, they would live in New York. Q.E.D.! <BR><BR>So New York is probably the last place, other than all those inscrutable small towns in New England, that would think about things like signage from the point of view of the first-time visitor. And of course they are going to think that visitors have a helluva lot of nerve making mistakes and gumming up traffic which, of course, would run perfectly smoothly if it weren't for them.

Give me a break. Someone makes a mistake at a toll booth and all of a sudden this is a NY attitude problem? I've gotten lost and made driving errors in many places in the USA, not just NYC! And sometimes even if there is a sign you are not sure which lane they are exactly referring to. I drove around West Palm Beach airport area for 45 minutes before I could figure out how the heck to get to the terminal. <BR><BR>Be fair about this and don't use it as an excuse to bash NY'ers. As for them not knowing there is a world besides NYC, that is bull. NY'ers (for the most part) are diverse, educated, travelled individuals who are probably more savvy than most of the country when it comes to current affairs and human interest. <BR><BR>On the flip side I have met many midwesterners who are happy in their own private Idaho and never stray from their safe little bubble and who are clueless to any culture that doesn't pass through their local arts center. <BR><BR>

To be perfectly clear, the EZ Pass signs that are the source of this argument are FREAKIN' HUGE!!<BR><BR>If you can't drive and look at signs and interpret them at the same time, THEN either you shouldn't drive OR you should travel with a person who will read the signs and tell you what to do

WELL SAID DAVID!!!<BR><BR>

It seems to me the most vituperative posts here are FROM the New Yorkers who have taken it on themselves to bash tourists -- a peculiar spin given that this is a travel forum. Diane was sharing a travel experience that affected her view of NY; the New Yorkers just dialed up the invective, echoing the same hostility of the unsympathetic cop. But it sort of proves the point about NY'ers, doesn't it?<BR><BR>Read Diane's final paragraph -- she says it's confusing. If out-of-towners are confused, then it IS confusing. She says it wasn't the ticket so much as the policeman's attitude that left a bad taste in her mouth. I'm guessing there are officious (look it up, it doesn't mean "official") cops all over the country but I'm also guessing that some of them might relent when they were told, courteously and apologetically, that the driver knew he'd made an error but wasn't sure how to deal with it and had been confused.<BR><BR>Finally, I would just LOVE to hear what you NY drivers would be saying if you were caught behind someone -- as I have -- who realizes their mistake, stops, and utzes sidways, very slowly, to get into the proper lane, thereby gagging traffic and ticking off any number of other drivers. Frankly, I'd bet they'd all chip in to PAY Diane's husband to go on through the EZ pass.

<BR>maahhhhxipan-<BR><BR>so your point is?<BR><BR>more grousing about new yorkers?<BR>or about bad drivers? you aren't too clear who you are bitchin about here.

Please let this thread just die. It's pretty ridiculous.

Hi,<BR>I live in NJ.I also have to drive to NY every day.There is traffic most days.A lot of that traffic is from people that get into the EZPass lanes by mistake.I have sat in those lines waiting while cops stop traffic so some numbskull can drive out of the lane and over to where they belonged,with no ticketing for the inconvenience of all the other drivers who are able to read signs.<BR>I was in SC once.Got a ticket for speeding.That cop stood and screamed at me for 20 minutes,most of what he was screaming about was his opinion on Northerners and their fancy foreign cars.<BR>Cops are cops everywhere.<BR>I really do not think that this is a NY vs the World problem.<BR>It is more like some people cope better than others,these things happen all the time, just not everybody writes and tells about it on a travel site.<BR>

Mahxipan - <BR><BR>You might want to read more carefully before presuming that others need a dictionary to get through your post. (I'm not sure why you'd think "officious" is such an obscure and impressive word that it would warrant such a caveat, but that's another issue.)<BR><BR>In any event, you claim that she didn't have much of a problem with the ticket -when she actually said, very specifically, that BOTH the attitude AND the ticket were excessive, and that she would have preferred a warning. <BR><BR>Finally, while she complains about the cop's attitude, most of the specifics she gives are very benign. Asking someone for a license, registration and money for the toll isn't exactly inappropriate behavior for a cop. Neither is telling them to pull over, issuing a ticket and telling them to read the signs.

This isn't about New Yorkers, that is at least until New Yorker decided to let everyone know that New Yorkers had more important things on their minds (I assume they meant terrorists attacks, hence my reference to 9/11, if I'm wrong then I apologize, but I'm pretty sure that's what they meant).<BR><BR>This could happen anywhere with poor signage and lots of traffic, and does. Maybe Diane wrote because whe was TRAVELING and thought she might give the rest of the TRAVELERS a heads up about how easy it is to get a ticket while trying to navigate around the city.<BR><BR>And yes David the signs are huge, but if traffic is backed up half a mile, I don't care how huge they are, you still can't always see them in time. And you Carly must be a veritable Mario Andretti. You said you drive to NY every day. I should hope it's easy for you to navigate with that much practice. I'd love for you to drive in L.A., get in the wrong lane and have people start yelling at you like you're some kind of moron because you don't know the roads.

Well, what a surprise that driving around old, congested roadways into the nation's largest city could cause some confusion. I'm so glad that Diane warned the other TRAVELERS

WOW,<BR>another New Yorker, you have a lot of anger to manage don't you?<BR>1-I lived in LA-I know about traffic and how to drive.<BR>2-what does Mario Andretti have to do with commuting to work each day?<BR>3-if that was a reference to getting a ticket in SC.I was ticketed for going 40 in a 25 mile zone..not really Mario speed.<BR>4-you must have had one of these bad driving experiences to be so hot under the collar on this thread, I guess you are just "relating" to Dianes complaint.<BR>5-I understood the reference to 9/11 as how much more security,police presence,short tempered police,and generally nervous people are now than before, therefore, the police would not have as much patience now as they used to before 9/11-of course-that is just MHO.<BR>and one last thing-millions of people go through the same drive every day, we all manage and so should have Diane and you.

No Carly, apparently you do not get it, as you still insist that it's easy for you, and millions like you who drive it every day. But I now realize that I'm dealing with someone with limited brain capacity, so I can see there's no point in trying to make you understand...

Whoa,I think Carly@nj hit it right on the button.Mr AnotherNYer is one angry guy!<BR>Unable to make himself clear, he gets insulting instead.Obviously,driving doesn't come easy to him,and that just pisses him off!<BR>Chill, MrAnotherNewYorker!!<BR>

I think AnotherNewYorker is one of those guys that the office votes is<BR>"Most likely to carry a gun to work"

Well you all are a bunch of geniuses. First of all, I'm not a guy. Secondly, I am 100% opposed to guns. Thirdly, I've been driving for 20 years and have only gotten a ticket once, for doing 50 in a 35 mile sone on a country road. I'm an excellent driver. I just realize that some people, like my in-laws, mother and basically many people over 50, have a very difficult time navigating city traffic, tolls, bridges and tunnels, and unlike some of the completely uncompassionate people here, I have a empathy for them. <BR><BR>Maybe the cop should pull out of towners over and give them a warning, but to ticket someone who obviously is unfamilier with the local roadways is not a nice thing to do.

Absolutely. New York is probably better served by public transportation than any other city in the country. There is no reason for tourists like Diane to bring a car into the city. I lived in the city for 10 years without a car, and never missed it.

Cathy cathy cathy -- apparently you've visited the monkey house once too often. And what's all this I hear about endangered feces? I mean, who cares if they're endangered! Let 'em go, they oughta be extinct!<BR><BR>What? <BR><BR>Oh.<BR><BR>Never mind.

Mr/Ms Another New Yorker-<BR>the sentiment is the same.You are way too angry,good thing you don't like guns!<BR>And why call yourself a New Yorker since you seem to have such resentment against New Yorkers?<BR>Obviously you are very young,or at least immature and with time you may become more well mannered and tolerant.

Another New Yorker-<BR>"People over 50 have a very difficult time navigating bridges and tunnels"???<BR><BR>What the hell are you talking about??<BR><BR>You are either 12 years old or live in a cave! Go play in your room and leave us alone.And change your name to clueless twit.

Ah yes, Cathy wants to sling s**t at bad drivers, and the New Yorkers are telling people to stay the hell home, or take the train. <BR><BR>And people wonder why everyone thinks New Yorkers have a bad attitude. Gee, I wonder why. If they aren't being incredibly nasty, they're giving what may be the worse possible travel advice I've ever heard on this forum. <BR><BR>And do tell, how was Diane supposed to get to Long Island? Now there's some great advice, if you are traveling from outside of New York to Long Island, take the subway! Yep, that's really good advice.<BR><BR>Oyvey!

Oyvey-I would advise you to change that name.It is not funny.

Diane's husband got exactly what he deserved. The cops working the tunnel probably have to deal with dimwits like him all day. Given the current city budget gap, they should definitely raise that fine to more than $70.

Rudy - don't worry, the $70 fine isn't the half of it. Wait until he gets his insurance rates for what the 2 points do.<BR><BR>Diane - you're wrong, you are criminals. Going through the EZ Pass lane is against the law. Period. And most New Yorkers who know darn well are going to tell the cop they're tourists who didn't know any better, etc. etc. If you are not able to read the huge signs both before and at the tool booths that say EZ PASS ONLY then you should probably not be driving. If tunnels confuse you, don't use them.<BR><BR>The cop is doing his job. He should be giving you a ticket, and all of the time and effort to pull you out of the line and escort you safely to the side of the road probably costs the city more than the $70.<BR><BR>His rudeness is something totally different. If you felt you were wronged there, write a letter to the police dept. with his badge number. But as far as getting the ticket you deserved it. If you felt you didn't then you tell that to the judge, not the cop. The cop only gives out the tickets, it's not his job to give out tickets "only if the law breakers do not just happen to be tourists who claim they didn't know and should be excused for any infraction".<BR><BR>My advice is complain about the treatment, but face the music for breaking the rules.

I have been going through those tunnels and bridges now for 30 years.Moved to NY from SF.Somehow I have managed all this time to read the signs,pay a toll,now I go through EZpass and have not been stopped once.<BR>It really is not as hard as some people are making it out to be.<BR>