Driving in Boston

If you're afraid to drive in Mexico, then come to Boston for a little practice.  Or maybe it should be the other way around.

Pedestrians:  Have the right-of-way -- they'll cross when the light says walk AND when the light says don’t walk.
When stopped at a red light the pedestrians will figure if they can get in front of you before your light turns green, or before you actually start moving, then you’ll have to wait for them.

As a pedestrian you must realize the walk light does not mean cars have stopped yet.  I was driving in the left lane of a two lane one way street. The light turned red, I stopped, then the car in the right lane continued on.  I figured he simply ran the light.  Then the next car continued though and a third car.  I look at Cheryl and asked, “Do you think I’m suppose to stop??"  Just then the fourth car stopped.  Here’s the rule: If you figure you can go through the red light without causing an accident -- go for it.

Boston has many one way streets and street name signs may not be at every intersection.  The streets are not straight and there may be three one-way streets in a row.  If you miss your turn it may be three or four blocks until you can turn the direction you want to go.  Then don’t be surprised if the road you turn on is a construction area that forces you to turn further into the wrong direction.  Next, the road curves and you realize you need to be in the other lane but the traffic is thick and you are forced onto a ramp.  The ramp takes you onto a bridge and before you know it you're on the other side of the river.  There are also many dead end roads without signs.  Either that or I have found all three of them that don’t have signs.  These are fun to get into -- the roads are just slightly larger than a one lane road with cars parked tightly on both sides and our crew cab 4-wheel drive F-550 does not turn very sharp.

We drove through the Italian area Friday evening down the main road.  It’s a two direction street with cars parked on both sides but with many cars double parked and some triple parked it’s more like a single lane road.  An eight foot wide dually is not the vehicle of choice here.  We saw one car that could fit in the parallel parking spot so they nosed in and left the back end sticking out.  On top of this the pedestrians are walking around like the street has been closed for a street fair, (but then why not -- the cars aren't moving anyway).  Every restaurant on the street has a large crowd hanging around waiting for a table and Mike's Bakery is twice as busy.

We were also warned to look both ways when walking across a one way street.  One-way in Boston only refers to the direction of the front of the car not the direction of movement.  The drivers here are capable of backing up as fast as they drive forward.

Several one way roads are three lanes wide but can switch back to two lanes, so can the freeways. But don’t always count on the lane striping to help out.  Much of the white lane striping is worn and barely visible.
 
 
 
 
 

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