New Jersey

[jeffandnicole]

That's a misprint.  The term used in the state statutes is "Eligible public highways".

[Zeffy]

I've been wondering about this since I took the written test in NJ. The manual (still, I checked the latest) says that a speed limit of 65 is limited to "Certain interstate highways (as posted)". Does that mean I shouldn't be going 65 on the Atlantic City Expressway or NJ 18 or any other state freeway where 65 is posted? Or does NJ define "interstate highways" differently from everyone else (note that interstate is not capitalized)? The only definition that's consistent with what is actually posted in the field is "any highway that eventually connects to something that allows you to leave the state" at which point they might as well remove "interstate" from that sentence.

Regardless of what the manual says, everyone does 75+ on Interstates in 65 zones, 65 in 55 zones, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the right or center lane of an Interstate and someone flies by doing probably 85+ in the left lane.

Oh, the Clearview 7... *shudders*

[bzakharin]

Regardless of what the manual says, everyone does 75+ on Interstates in 65 zones, 65 in 55 zones, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the right or center lane of an Interstate and someone flies by doing probably 85+ in the left lane.

Oh, the Clearview 7... *shudders*

Oh, I know, seeing as I live in NJ and commute using multiple freeways daily. It was a theoretical question. Also, in my experience, 55 MPH zones on freeways are treated no different from 65 MPH zones, everyone doing 80+. Non-freeway 55 MPH zones tend to be 60-65, though I've experienced what you describe on non-freeways too occasionally.

[signalman]

Regardless of what the manual says, everyone does 75+ on Interstates in 65 zones, 65 in 55 zones, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the right or center lane of an Interstate and someone flies by doing probably 85+ in the left lane.

Oh, the Clearview 7... *shudders*
Whether it's a freeway posted at 55 or 65 traffic tends to move at 70-80, in my experience.  The only time you'll see a lot of driver compliance is if a cop is present.  Then one will see a sea of brake lights.

[Mr. Matté]

To paraphrase what my high school drivers' ed teacher said, they never fix the mistakes in the Driver's Manual, they only change the picture of the Governor.

[Alps]

I've been wondering about this since I took the written test in NJ. The manual (still, I checked the latest) says that a speed limit of 65 is limited to "Certain interstate highways (as posted)". Does that mean I shouldn't be going 65 on the Atlantic City Expressway or NJ 18 or any other state freeway where 65 is posted? Or does NJ define "interstate highways" differently from everyone else (note that interstate is not capitalized)? The only definition that's consistent with what is actually posted in the field is "any highway that eventually connects to something that allows you to leave the state" at which point they might as well remove "interstate" from that sentence.

Regardless of what the manual says, everyone does 75+ on Interstates in 65 zones, 65 in 55 zones, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the right or center lane of an Interstate and someone flies by doing probably 85+ in the left lane.

Oh, the Clearview 7... *shudders*

NJ speed limits:

65 = 80
55 = 75 (freeway or Jersey freeway)
55 = 65 (non-freeway)
50 = 65 (Jersey freeway)
Otherwise, as per local custom. I know of a 40 that drives like a 55, and a 25 that drives like a 40. There used to be a 25 that drove like a 55, but now it's posted at 35 and people tend to drive 40-45.

[Pete from Boston]

I've been wondering about this since I took the written test in NJ. The manual (still, I checked the latest) says that a speed limit of 65 is limited to "Certain interstate highways (as posted)". Does that mean I shouldn't be going 65 on the Atlantic City Expressway or NJ 18 or any other state freeway where 65 is posted? Or does NJ define "interstate highways" differently from everyone else (note that interstate is not capitalized)? The only definition that's consistent with what is actually posted in the field is "any highway that eventually connects to something that allows you to leave the state" at which point they might as well remove "interstate" from that sentence.

Regardless of what the manual says, everyone does 75+ on Interstates in 65 zones, 65 in 55 zones, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the right or center lane of an Interstate and someone flies by doing probably 85+ in the left lane.

Oh, the Clearview 7... *shudders*

NJ speed limits:

65 = 80
55 = 75 (freeway or Jersey freeway)
55 = 65 (non-freeway)
50 = 65 (Jersey freeway)
Otherwise, as per local custom. I know of a 40 that drives like a 55, and a 25 that drives like a 40. There used to be a 25 that drove like a 55, but now it's posted at 35 and people tend to drive 40-45.

NJ made a big deal about signing the 65 zones as special enforcement areas, double fines, etc. when 65 arrived there.  I never saw any extra enforcement, never saw many people doing under 70, and frankly stopped even noticing the signs after a while. 

[Alps]

I've been wondering about this since I took the written test in NJ. The manual (still, I checked the latest) says that a speed limit of 65 is limited to "Certain interstate highways (as posted)". Does that mean I shouldn't be going 65 on the Atlantic City Expressway or NJ 18 or any other state freeway where 65 is posted? Or does NJ define "interstate highways" differently from everyone else (note that interstate is not capitalized)? The only definition that's consistent with what is actually posted in the field is "any highway that eventually connects to something that allows you to leave the state" at which point they might as well remove "interstate" from that sentence.

Regardless of what the manual says, everyone does 75+ on Interstates in 65 zones, 65 in 55 zones, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the right or center lane of an Interstate and someone flies by doing probably 85+ in the left lane.

Oh, the Clearview 7... *shudders*

NJ speed limits:

65 = 80
55 = 75 (freeway or Jersey freeway)
55 = 65 (non-freeway)
50 = 65 (Jersey freeway)
Otherwise, as per local custom. I know of a 40 that drives like a 55, and a 25 that drives like a 40. There used to be a 25 that drove like a 55, but now it's posted at 35 and people tend to drive 40-45.

NJ made a big deal about signing the 65 zones as special enforcement areas, double fines, etc. when 65 arrived there.  I never saw any extra enforcement, never saw many people doing under 70, and frankly stopped even noticing the signs after a while. 

NJ is one of the best states to drive in. Go with the flow, don't make stupid maneuvers, and you don't have to worry about getting pulled over.

[jeffandnicole]

I remember the day 65 mph was first used on the highways here.  Magically, overnight, NJDOT may have worked faster than on any project in history, no matter how small.  All traces of 55 mph on the 65 mph roads were gone.  Many people were going 65 mph...or maybe just a few mph higher.  The first person ticketed was someone from Texas.  After many years of struggle (and many years forthcoming of further studies), NJ had a 65 mph limit.

Over the years, the tolerance grew.  Motorists started going faster.  Tolerances were increased. 

Today, enforcement appears incredibly laxed.  Not only is 80 the minimum you'll be pulled over on most 65 mph highways in most cases, but during rush hours traffic appears to flow even faster, where permitted.  As long as there's non LLD holding things up, 85 - 90 mph is entirely attainable on I-295, for example.  It's extremely rare to see someone pulled over - and honestly, they could be stopped for any number of reasons, not just speeding, or even simply broken down on the shoulder. 

Where traffic congests, it congests.  But in the more free-flowing areas, it'll flow fast.  Real fast.

[bzakharin]

The one time I got pulled over on an NJ freeway, I zoomed past some sort of an incident in the right shoulder (with a police car present) while in the right lane doing 80 (in a 65 zone, I believe). The reason for the stop was... not yielding to an emergency vehicle. The policeman didn't even mention my speed and let me off with a warning. I have no idea what the issue was since there was plenty of space between me and the parked cars and no one was moving there, but i'm careful now to switch lanes in such cases whenever possible. Was it a slow day? Why would he go through the trouble of pulling me over on such a flimsy pretense just to give me a warning?

[jeffandnicole]

The one time I got pulled over on an NJ freeway, I zoomed past some sort of an incident in the right shoulder (with a police car present) while in the right lane doing 80 (in a 65 zone, I believe). The reason for the stop was... not yielding to an emergency vehicle. The policeman didn't even mention my speed and let me off with a warning. I have no idea what the issue was since there was plenty of space between me and the parked cars and no one was moving there, but i'm careful now to switch lanes in such cases whenever possible. Was it a slow day? Why would he go through the trouble of pulling me over on such a flimsy pretense just to give me a warning?

Like most states, NJ has a Move Over (or slow down) law, which requires drivers to move at least one lane over to provide some buffer room.  If you can't move over, at least slow down.

To experience this on the other end of the spectrum, get a flat tire or simply pull over and step out of the car on the shoulder.  You won't have the same level of confidence of standing there in the open as traffic zooms by at 80 mph. 

[bzakharin]

Point taken. In my experience, no one does any such thing. To the extent that traffic does slow down, it's in all lanes and because they could be targeted for speeding. Looking at the NJ move over law literature, it seems it was only passed in 2009, which would likely explain lack of awareness (and probably why I got a warning and not a ticket).

[Zeffy]

I've noticed New Jersey is lax when it comes to highway travel (for the most part), however, the same is nowhere true for traveling through 25 and 30 zones. If there is a cop there, you better slow down, otherwise you'll get a ticket. I saw someone in front of me traveling through CR 604 in Mercer County the other day going probably about 29 MPH in a 25, and I was doing 26, and Princeton PD was lurking and snagged him. Now, I know Princeton police have a rather salty reputation, but I saw a bunch of police cars yesterday out in force. One even pulled someone over behind my house! I can name a lot of speed trap areas where I will obey the speed limit, because police seem to be lurking there more often than not.

[Duke87]

The one time I got pulled over on an NJ freeway, I zoomed past some sort of an incident in the right shoulder (with a police car present) while in the right lane doing 80 (in a 65 zone, I believe). The reason for the stop was... not yielding to an emergency vehicle. The policeman didn't even mention my speed and let me off with a warning.

I'm guessing the lack of mention of your speed was simply because the cop that stopped you wasn't running radar... and thus knew you were going fast, but not exactly how fast.

[Pete from Boston]

New Jersey suffers from a plague of little police departments with sleepy, tiny jurisdictions in which not much happens and there's really not far to go in which to look for something serious happening.  It can be a tough place to be a teenager driving a beat-up car late at night.

[cpzilliacus]

NJ is one of the best states to drive in. Go with the flow, don't make stupid maneuvers, and you don't have to worry about getting pulled over.

Are you aware of any townships in New Jersey that routinely run speed enforcement in places where the speed limit is obviously posted too low?

[Zeffy]

Are you aware of any townships in New Jersey that routinely run speed enforcement in places where the speed limit is obviously posted too low?

By townships are you referring to the actual municipality type or just a general description? Because I know one area of Hillsborough that is posted at 35 MPH where I've seen police cars too frequent to ignore the 35 around that area. Hopewell Borough has a 30 zone just south of the intersection with NJ 31 on CR 518 down a decently steep slope which if you're smart you will ride your brake all the way down. Princeton police are pretty common along 25 zones, so when the signs say 'TRAFFIC LAWS STRICTLY ENFORCED' (usually in nasty Arialveticverstesk), they mean it.

[Alps]

Yeah, NJ towns love running speed traps. Townships - Livingston is one that runs speed enforcement at a particular 25 mph stretch of CR 527/E. Cedar St., after a long downhill on a road now posted at 35, which used to be traveled at 45-50 (despite being originally signed at 25). It's at the bottom of a steep downhill in the other direction as well, so clearly just a place to catch people. Whole road should be 35.

[roadman65]

It is the last week you will be able to drive the Pulaski Skyway northbound from Newark to Jersey City as after April 12th, it will be closed for 24 months for major deck rehabilitation work.  If you live in NJ you might want to seize this opportunity or wait two years to do so.
http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/roads/pulaski/

[jeffandnicole]

A few sign modification projects in my area of I-295:

A sign modification project resulting in 4 county shields on a single BGS.  I chose this pic because you can see the fadedness in the background: Previously, the Routes shown were 631 & 640.  While it looks bad in this pic; driving underneath it at highway speeds you can barely see the color difference.  (I did a slight crosspost; see https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=7859.msg291755#msg291755 to see an advanced BGS where you can't make out the old lettering and shields at all)



- - - - - - - - - - - -

And this one just off of 295 had this previous look to it: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.855021,-75.164804,3a,75y,330.27h,89.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sWdMwxz6gkxwapxrYl6d9IA!2e0 

Today, it looks like the below.  Technically, the GSV link above was a sign error that existed for about 20 years.  After the turn, the left lane takes you directly onto 295 South; the right left turn lane takes you onto Rt. 44. So you can see how the original sign above would've led you into the wrong lane.

[Zeffy]

That's the most times I've ever seen 6xx county routes on a BGS... which county is this? Gloucester or Burlington? Or is it further south?

Note: Not too familiar with south Jersey other than Cape May, Millville, Bridgeton, Camden, Atlantic City, etc.

[Duke87]

Wait, what the hell? Red Bank is in Monmouth County, how does a sign at I-295 point you towards it on a route heading west?

[Zeffy]

Wait, what the hell? Red Bank is in Monmouth County, how does a sign at I-295 point you towards it on a route heading west?

Wow, I just looked at a map and saw this. Someone who knows the area want to clarify?

[Mr. Matté]

Red Bank, Gloucester County, New Jersey:

Red Bank is an unincorporated community within West Deptford Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. Situated on the Delaware River, the Battle of Red Bank occurred here.


manualwikibot

[Zeffy]

So the BGS references an unincorporated community in West Deptford...?