Advanced Vehicle Maneuver at Bergen Square

Submitted by RAWisROLLIE t3_ycdu5s in jerseycity

This happened last week and I’m still thinking about how crazy it was. 8:15am at Bergen Square on a school day. New Jersey Transit Bus on Bergen Ave. with a red light, completely blocking the intersection from crosswalk to crosswalk. I’m at the front of the line on Academy, unable to take the left because of the bus. I’m just sitting there listening to the horns, hoping the next pile of cars behind the bus don’t pull the same act whenever it can finally move up.

The driver two cars behind me decides they’re somehow going for it anyway. They pull into the oncoming lane (anything coming is blocked, of course), take a left into the two-way bike lane, then into the bus stop, and wedge into a tiny space between stopped cars who are planning to go straight on Bergen. I think they were planning on cutting right up the crosswalk until they saw people using it.

Bergen gets the green and the bus can finally get out of the intersection, as well as the first pair of cars, and the stunt driver is now able to bully the rest of the way across two lanes to complete their highly illegal left turn. Next green for me, and I can complete my highly legal left turn, and then I’m behind the other car at the next red light. All those laws broken and potential danger, and what did they really gain?

I know cars blow through red lights all the time. Left on red into oncoming traffic isn’t even all that shocking anymore. This was the most egregious and unsafe maneuver I’ve seen a driver intentionally make though. WTF are we doing, JC?

* a dramatization

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Comments

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FollowMeKids t1_itlnkny wrote

A+ for effort in conveying your thoughts with picture, OP.

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ItsRagtimeTime t1_itlws70 wrote

A few months back, I was the second car waiting to make an unprotected left turn on green from Manhattan Ave onto Tonnelle Ave going south. The guy behind me (3rd car in line) pulled into/through/across multiple lanes of oncoming traffic, which in this case was not blocked. Some people just DGAF.

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Unoriginal_UserName9 t1_itlxfhn wrote

In the drivers mind, they got two cars ahead, so they won at driving.

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sirmackerel t1_itlxx7k wrote

Was the driver behind you Amy DeGise?

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scubastefon t1_itlyu2g wrote

It’s not just a NJ thing, there’s a real disconnect in people’s minds on what the payoff of aggressive driving is. It gets you so much less further along than one might think, and at the cost of increased risk, stress, and irateness. I get it though, I find myself falling victim to it also, it takes time to remind yourself to just chill out and try to give the people you’re with a comfortable ride.

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SonOfMcGee t1_itlyucq wrote

Thank you for the thorough description and drawing. I have reviewed the case and determined that at no point during this maneuver did the driver park on the wrong side during the street sweeper time window. His actions are both legal and encouraged under Jersey City motor vehicle code [points to Blu-Ray of Mad Max: Fury Road]

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vvvin t1_itlyz3h wrote

I suspect most of the people that pull this kind of thing are off duty cops or family of.

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cC2Panda t1_itm2a0x wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#204,101)

Years ago there was as story about a guy in China who started throwing bricks through windows of people running red lights after a young girl was hit by one of the assholes. I'm not saying we should throw bricks through their windows, but maybe ninja rocks?

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jgweiss t1_itm3q5g wrote

Replying to scubastefon (#204,102)

back and forth...this is it. so many drivers will cut off a cyclist or cross a double yellow to get ahead of a slower car, just to end up at the same red light. and they dont recognize that they are putting lives at risk, as there are no consequences for not killing someone

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scubastefon t1_itm8ovu wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#204,101)

Then again the other day I was in the city and some dude on a scooter drive right into the back on a RAV4 and then told the car driver that he shouldn’t have stopped short. Ha.

Moral of the story: everyone sucks at least a little bit some of the time.

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Hank929 t1_itm97y8 wrote

That's absolutely insane.

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cC2Panda t1_itm98ty wrote

Replying to Dependent_Map_3940 (#204,963)

Depending on the severity it ranges from vandalism to criminal mischief and interfering with transportation to reckless endangerment. Regardless I won't feel bad if someone who is actively threatening the lives and safety of other gets their property damaged a bit, also I'm being hyperbolic not actually advocating it incase that wasn't clear to some dolts.

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garth_meringue t1_itmbwbb wrote

The way it works around here is if you can get into a space before someone else you win, that's your space now and everyone else has to deal with it. Doesn't matter if it's in an oncoming traffic lane or whatever. The only thing holding you back is your own risk tolerance.

Same thing even if you're not in a car. If you're a pedestrian you have to get into the space of a crosswalk before the car does to win, they won't wait for you.

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Ilanaspax t1_itmc18y wrote

Putting this idea out into the universe: a YouTube channel where someone drives recklessly around Jersey City and sees how long/if ever it takes to get pulled over by a cop.

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RAWisROLLIE OP t1_itmgscs wrote

Replying to Dependent_Map_3940 (#204,963)

Obviously, the legal technicalities are 99% of the reason why I'm not actually doing it (edit--throwing tomatoes, not bricks!) The other 1% is the off chance that it goes in an open window, hits someone, and causes a fatal accident.

Slapping a sticker on a car that says "I'm a shit driver" would be safer for the driver, but clearly not for the vigilante.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and would love for there to be a safe projectile that doesn't cause permanent damage for this task, but I just don't know it.

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RAWisROLLIE OP t1_itmhwyd wrote

Replying to scubastefon (#205,109)

I think the real moral is that any post about a incredibly unsafe driver of a 2-ton vehicle will inevitably have someone say "but what about this thing I saw a comparatively light mode of transportation do?".

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ScumbagMacbeth t1_itmrdf7 wrote

A few nights ago I was driving on Palisade Ave and I stopped for a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk. The car behind me got annoyed and pulled around me and drove into the opposite lane to pass me and run through the crosswalk where a person was trying to cross! They barely missed them and it was terrifying. I really thought I was about to see someone get run over. Drivers here are seriously deranged.

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ismyworkaccountok t1_itn3ggf wrote

Thanks for the image OP

But seriously, just leave the house earlier if something as simple as a bus ruins your commute.

Maybe it's the fact that I left for Florida 6 years ago, but I'm so much more stress-free when driving now. I don't even try to beat yellow lights anymore.

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RAWisROLLIE OP t1_itn42pj wrote

Replying to ismyworkaccountok (#208,406)

Sorry, but that's what you got out of this post?

I was neither complaining about the bus nor a "ruined commute." I sat at my green light without honking or losing my patience and made it to my destination with plenty of time to spare.

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Ilanaspax t1_itn642m wrote

Replying to ScumbagMacbeth (#207,138)

I see this all the time and it makes it feel more dangerous to stop for the pedestrian somehow? Half the time the person doesn’t even want to cross because they already know not to trust the car behind me.

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jgweiss t1_itqrong wrote

Replying to scubastefon (#204,102)

it happened again this morning...a pickup crossed the double-yellow to pass another truck going 25mph, to end up at the same light at central + 139. he then crossed the highway and pulled into his job doing construction on the county courthouse 😒

entirely unnecessary and risked hitting a person in the street or a head-on collision. it's entirely ingrained, and our not-so-defunded police will continue to tacitly encourage this behavior as our YoY taxes fucking double.

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