That’s why every single New Jersey legal document has to have the name of the county on it.
I love this line about the skyway from wiki:
“The speed limit on the skyway is 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), but is not generally followed; there is nowhere for police to pull over speeders.”
They forgot to add the speed will end up being either 75 or 15 depending on the time of the day and weather conditions.
I want to second CalMeacham’s points about the relative merits of Jersey drivers, LA drivers and Massachusetts drivers.
Now, I have to admit, my experience in and around LA is limited - only about a week there, and I had the boon of not being required to do rush-hour driving. But, I’d be willing to give it a try. I saw nothing that compared to the intersection I had to cut my teeth on when I got my license: Trying to cross four lanes of rush hour traffic in 250 feet, often from a standing stop - with no merge lanes (at least none recognized by other drivers).
There is one city in my experience that I will not willing drive in, and that is Boston.
However, I do have two more rules to add to the list of Jersey driving rules: both learned through bitter personal experience.
#21: Do not play with the rumble strips on the side of the GSP. Especially do not play with the rumble strips on the side of the GSP if you’re in a car that’s loaded with 80% of your worldly possessions, and much of that weight is sitting above the gas tank.
#22: If you do violate rule #21, when the crash sensor for the fuel pump cut off is fooled by the junk bouncing on top of it into believing that the car has just been in an accident, do not call for a tow truck on the GSP, unless you’ve got AAA.
Say, Otaku, I see you’re in Rochester. Did you ever have to drive the Can of Worms, or did you get there after they cleaned up that mess?
Worst Interstate design screw-up I ever saw. In that one place, at least, Rochester was in world-class “awful” category. But the rest of the city (and the drivers) weren’t that bad.
I got there while the Can was being reworked. I don’t think I ever drove the complete original Can, but I did drive some of the in-process work. And while the road was bad, I never found the experience as bad as the times I’d had to navigate Fresh Pond Circle during rush hour.
ETA: In general, I can’t say that I ever felt that Rochester traffic ever rivaled what I grew up with in Eastern Mass.
I’ve done the original Can o’Worms and Fresh Pond during Rush Hour. For my money, Can o’Worms was FARRR worse.
De gustibus and all that. I’ll take your word for it.
The picture was from 1941. “New Jersey” as we know it today was barely recognizable in 1941. Newark was livable and shopable, Atlantic City was a middle-class family destination, there were turnpikes but no Turnpike, Philip Roth was in the 3rd grade, and Guido was still just a first name.
One can assume people’s driving habits weren’t so post-apocalyptic, either - there were a lot less people, a whole lot less traffic, and medians might not even have been needed.
I’m Southern. * Really* Southern. Born, raised, & educated here. Went to UGA. I bark on fall weekends & drink a lot of bourbon. After reading all the hate for Jersey, I felt the need to chime in…
Ahem…
I fuckin’ love Jersey. I love the jug handles, the gas stations, the big hair, the 7,000,000 towns located 25 yards from each other, and the proximity to NYC. I love the drivers, the bridges, the accents, and the sass. I especially love the pizza, Ruts Hut, and the tiny, one-seating-per-night-only Italian restaurants that stuff you to the gills prior to presenting you with your doggy bag. I’ll watch King of Queens & Harold & Kumar go to White Castle (among others), just because they remind me of the time I spent in that part of the world
That part of the Northeast is very close to the top of my list of places that exemplify Americana.
Thank you for that post. I think very few of us are expressing hatred for New Jersey. I love it. This is one of those self-mocking things (like my username).
I am often the first person to defend New Jersey. It has more good than bad and is a great place to earn a living. It was a pretty good place to grow up and damn it is convenient to so many great things. I even have an Emu farm down the road.
One question, what is a Ruts Hut?
Jim (I love our Pizza & NY Pizza above all other pizza, Chicago falls behind despite IMHO on pizza)
I didn’t mean you, really. It was more of an equalizer to those “happiness is NJ in your rearview mirror” type posts.
Ruts Hut is a hot dog joint near the city, in what my native-NJ friend assures me is the “ugly part” of Jersey. We were doing some work in the city, and he asked me if I wanted to go back to the hotel, then get a hot dog.
I asked him why we would leave Manhattan to get a hot dog.
“Because they deep-fry them”, was his reply.
“I’ll follow you there. Don’t lose me in traffic.”
I live in the Bay Area now, but I want to move back to NJ when I retire. Hopefully before the big one hits. 
However, I lived around Princeton, which was described as a bunch of people pretending they don’t live in New Jersey.
That is the tastiest looking meal I have seen since the Grease Trucks. I wish I had read this before I came back to PA for school.
I’ve been to Rutt’s Hut, my parents were going there since the 50’s. Their hot dogs are the best on the planet as far as I’m concerned.
I live a couple miles from the Pulaski Skyway; I’ve never driven on it and I never will.
Rule # 24: On residential streets, if the car in front of you is making a left turn, you must pass it on the right or you’ll get flipped the bird, or get shot. There’s supposed to be a state law that passing on the right is illegal but it only applies if you’re in an accident (take note George Clooney). If everone followed this law all the time the state would turn into one giant parking lot.
On the Turnpike or Parkway: If the cars in the middle lane are going around 70 mph and the cars in the fast lane are going at around 85 mph, it’s okay to pass them in the right hand lane if you’re in more of a hurry than they are.
I’ve also seen cars stop almost dead in the left lane on Route 17 and cut across 3 lanes of traffic to get off on their exit. I’ve seen this at least 4 times in the last couple of years.
As a Queens resident, I’m fairly certain that Queens isn’t in New Jersey. 
Fairly certain.
I am What Exit?'s nemesis - I am usually the first to mock NJ. But I’m a lifelong NYer, having spent only a few years out of state. My father was born here; my mother has been here since she was a pre-teen. Unlike transplants to NY, the rivalry is inbred. The NY/NJ is a lot like the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry - the latter half of the rivalry soooo much wants to be considered as good and as cool as the former. 
I know. I’ve been to both*, but the culture, cuisine & people are all so similar. That’s why I said “that part of the world.” As much as I love New Jersey, I love the city even more.
*I once organized the transportation for Coke during the Olympic Torch relay in 2004. We began the New York leg in Athens Park.
Well you’re half right, many of us would like to have what Manhattan & Brooklyn have, but we’re not too jealous of Queens and Staten Island. I mean, I would rather live in Hoboken than Queens; it is also closer to the best parts of The City.
BTW: My Grandmothers and one Grandfather were born in The City, my other Grandfather came over from Bari to Little Italy as a little lad. My parents grew up in The City, and I was born in the Bronx. I know all about the rivalry and while I love The City, I don’t love it enough to live there with kids as I have a choice. I’ll have to thank my parents when I visit them tonight.
I do wish I was closer to “The Stadium” though.
Jim
Are you trying to start a fight?
I’ve lived in both. I suppose they may seem similar if you’re from the South. The LIE is worse than any NJ road, though.
That is true, as is 278 through Satan’s Island, but the Pulaski Skyway is scarier.
The Major Deegan Cloverleaf is pretty awful also, especially immediately before or after a Yankee, or at Christmas time or in the Summer, or on a Holiday weekend, or rush hour or if it is raining, or if it is snowing, or if it is sunny, or at night or during the day.