Bad Driving on Long Island

Traffic on Long Island is out of control. Drivers pretty much do whatever they want without any regard for anyone else.

People eat, shave and apply make-up while driving. They talk on cell phones as if the law doesn’t apply to them. They fly through stop signs as if they weren’t even there. Speed limits are a joke. Even if you go 70 mph in a 55 mph zone, people still pass you as if you were standing still.

I just love it when I get to a four-way stop and actually make a complete stop, then watch as some entitled driver sees me stopped and thinks that is an excuse to fly through his own stop sign without getting hit. Why not make your own complete stop and let me go, like the law intended?

Turn on the radio and listen to a traffic report. There is always an accident somewhere on Long Island. Yet, we wonder why our insurance rates are so high.

In my opinion, our $100,000+ average per year police are not doing a good job.

Here are some of my experiences:

• After videotaping a band at a local Farmingdale bar, for my public access TV show, I returned to my car to go home. An alleged intoxicated person soon left the bar, got in his car and pulled out of his parking spot, hitting my car. As he sped off, I got his license number and called 911 on my cell phone. After 10 minutes, an officer arrived and was only willing to fill out an accident report. No effort was made to catch the potential drunk driver. The officer told me that there was no proof that the driver they may catch at the wheel would be the same one who hit me. He even suggested that I go after the guy myself, next time!

•   Another incident happened on the Southern State. I was on my way to a concert at the Westbury Theatre. Of course there was a long line of cars at the exit trying to get to the theatre. I waited 20 minutes to get onto the exit ramp. Somebody with a giant SUV, who thought he was better than everybody else, decided to pull up onto the grass and pass everybody. He then decided he wanted to cut back in, in front of me and pulled up within inches of my car. He then rolled down his window and started to pound on my car with his fist, yelling that I was “gay” for driving a small Toyota, Yaris. I called 911 and waited for the police. Of course they arrived way after the guy took off. I was told they couldn’t do anything, because my car wasn’t damaged and I wasn’t hurt.

• I find it amazing that I had been pulled over three times in one day for a broken taillight, on the same day I almost got killed by two people drag racing on the LIE. I guess the police go after the easy prey.

It’s no wonder why so many people do whatever they feel like doing on Long Island roads. The chances of actually getting caught seem to be slim to none.