How to survive driving in NYC

I once wondered why people would still insist on living in NYC while the city compromises with terrible traffic conditions all the time. It's literally 'all the time' because in the weekdays there is commuting traffic and when it comes to the weekend, construction in the day and club car squads in the night. And you may ask, how to survive? Well, thanks god we have public transportation. Though it's no fancy, it's enough for us to take a ride, whether we are commuting daily or visiting this metropolis. However if you do have to, or prefer to drive, here are some of my tips.

0. Drive safe.

Driving safe should always come as the top 1 tip for driving anywhere! Before dashing off this one I spent 5 minutes reading the report about Motor Vehicle Collision Stats in June 2016 by NYPD. Below is the number of motor vehicle collisions of NYC.

GeoCode	GeoCodeLabel	Number_of_Motor_Vehicle_Collisions
C	CITYWIDE	20362
M	MANHATTAN	4445
B	BRONX	3007
K	BROOKLYN	5818
Q	QUEENS	5900
S	STATEN ISLAND	1192

I don’t know your reaction but I was totally stunned by this 5-digit number above. It just sounds ridiculous for someone to tell me that there are more than 20000 collisions in a month. As curious as you might be, I flipped the page and noticed the chart explaining all the reasons behind this inconceivable 20k:

The causes for most of these accidents are:

- distraction

- following too closely

- failure to yield right-of-way

- passing too closely

- passing or lane usage improper

- backing unsafely

- unsafe lane changing

My friend once told me that he almost ran into a wall with full throttle while he was supposed to come to a full stop. I told him, ‘Take it easy. You won’t as long as you know you are coming to a stop’. New drivers are new drivers and they are no rotten apples. It is those who drive irresponsibly that threatens everybody’s safety. So please buckle up, calm down and take easy rides. Be responsible, drive safe.

1. Don't risk getting a parking ticket.

Parking in NYC could be headaches, especially in Manhattan. Some people give up on street parking and find an alternative parking garage. This is indeed a safe way to find a temporary home for your beloved car. Street parking takes the risk of getting new scratches and dents as well as sometimes 'too close to get out' like this one:

However, if you do find an empty spot, please read the signs before shutting off the engine and leaving your car. To those who are still confused with the three typical 'No..' signs:
- No Parking: You are allowed to load and unload passengers or groceries, only expeditiously.
- No Standing: Same as above but only applies to people. No merchandise.
- No Stopping: Literally no stopping except for true emergencies or pulled over by police officers

There could be details on each sign and please read carefully. Police don't make all these signs for no reason. Please observe the law and do yourself a favor.


2. Don't speed.

There is default speed limit of 25 mph in the city. Don't speed. You could be accelerating to 30 mph to get through the lights ahead but before doing that please be sure of the conditions around you and after passing the green/yellow lights, decelerate. You could never imagine how fast a cop could pull you over for riding at 35 mph for a minute. And of course this is for everybody's safety.

Last winter when I was driving onto 9A South, taking the ramp from George Washington Bridge, I was hit by an Accord from behind. This rear-end accident was definitely the consequence of the drivers' speeding: I could not avoid the sudden full stop of the car ahead of me so I really pressed the brake hard but that Accord crashed into my rear bumper just as it had never braked. That ramp from GWB to 9A is one of the most dangerous highways IMHO and if you don't observe the law to drive slow, you could get yourself into a big trouble.



3. Always check your side mirrors, blind spots quickly through the corner of your eye and stay alert.

Not many drivers have the good habit checking blind spots. This could lead to lethal accident on highways at high speed but seems to happen more often in the city. There are so many yellow and green cabs and other cars on the road. Everybody's in a hurry and don't have one second to check the blind spot. Making a turn at this time is a bet that there is no car on its gas beside you. In addition there are lots of bikes like Citi bikes in NYC.

Luxury cars nowadays would come with high-end technologies to warn you of possible collisions. However you should never consider that as an excuse, just like you should always look backwards with your eyes when reversing instead of putting full trust on the backup camera. You could buy extra small blind spot mirrors, which are very helpful. Otherwise, get yourself accustomed to the good habit that your driving school instructor told you: look at the left mirror, look at the right mirror, look at rear mirror and turn your head for a glance.

Cyclists in the city could be riding along with you so stay alert of your surroundings, not only for pedestrians but also for possible cyclists. They could appear either on your left hand side or right hand side.

Some other tips are:

- Be prepared for unlimited time sitting in the traffic.

- Yield to other vehicles.

- Check if there's any broken lamp, a missing front plate, etc. Officers won't bother to pull you over.

Last but not least, try taking Holland Tunnel or Lincoln Tunnel instead of GWB if it's no big detour. As with my experience, Holland Tunnel won't let you stay in the line for a long time, Lincoln Tunnel always gets unbelievably crowded workdays and what about GWB? Much worse. There are cars all the time! But, if you are going to drive onto the George Washington Bridge with an ez-pass, you should take the very left lane early (that's the only EZ-Pass Only lane) to save yourself huge amounts of time. Otherwise you would probably be stuck in the cars heading towards CASH and wasting yourself some additional 20 mins. You are welcome.