Gov. Chris Christie: responsible when he wants to be.

[a completely inoffensive name]

It is the absolute devil. you wouldnt understand coming from Californias gorgeous freeway system. That is the way to travel. Go out and kiss it now. RIGHT NOW!

Yeah, the California freeway system is great for Northern California maybe, but anywhere from LA down to the border is this:

[Xiahou]

It looks worse than it is.... but how it looks is what matters in politics.
I read that the NJ state police offer helicopter flights to the governor because they can chalk it up to training hours for their pilots. In other words, most of the money would have been spent flying the choppers around anyhow.

But again, this looks terrible. It's hard to imagine what he was thinking when he decided the flight would be a good idea.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Yeah, the California freeway system is great for Northern California maybe, but anywhere from LA down to the border is this:

At least SoCal drivers don't slow to a crawl whenever there's more than 20 cars per mile. Up here most everyone feels the need to go 40 mph whenever there's a car on each side of them. And go 10 mph past any and all accidents in order to properly gawk.

Also, there's Canadians.

Oh, right - the OP - indeed, what was this guy thinking?

CR

[Centurion1]

No ACIN. I'm from San Diego. Trust me...... yeah rush hour is bad. But imagine rush hour at all times. East Coast Traffic from the Mid Atlantic and up is horrendous in general. Plus when its not rush hour on the freeway........ can you say getting from like....... Orange County to San Diego in an hour thirty or less.

[a completely inoffensive name]

No ACIN. I'm from San Diego. Trust me...... yeah rush hour is bad. But imagine rush hour at all times. East Coast Traffic from the Mid Atlantic and up is horrendous in general. Plus when its not rush hour on the freeway........ can you say getting from like....... Orange County to San Diego in an hour thirty or less.

Yeah it is very dependent on time of day, LA traffic is actually very much dependent on sports season as well. When there is a laker or dodger game going on, there might as well be two more rush hours that day in some areas as people come in and leave from the game (although dodger games are not that bad since a lot of people like to leave during the 7th inning lol).

If east coast traffic is 24/7 rush hour...then god help them.

[Centurion1]

well obviously hyperbole. But getting anywhere takes forever. way lower speedlimits and more congestion on average.

and the worst of it is people are just more obnoxious drivers.

[a completely inoffensive name]

well obviously hyperbole. But getting anywhere takes forever. way lower speedlimits and more congestion on average.

and the worst of it is people are just more obnoxious drivers.

I thought speed limits on freeways/highways across the country were all the same Federal mandated 55mph.

[GeneralHankerchief]

I thought speed limits on freeways/highways across the country were all the same Federal mandated 55mph.

Not accurate. In the Northeast at least most of the highway speed limits are 65. I usually can get to 75-80 on them without a problem (never been pulled over). Going past 80 is chancing it though.

[Strike For The South]

I thought speed limits on freeways/highways across the country were all the same Federal mandated 55mph.

CALIFORNIA HAS BEEN LYING TO YOU BOY



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From El Paso To Junction

[a completely inoffensive name]

Just did a Google Maps search for
A) Cherry Hill to Morristown NJ from GH's post (77.7 miles shortest route)
and
B) LA to San Diego (120 miles shortest route)

The NJ route gave a time of 1hr 38 min consistent with GH.
The LA-SD route gave a time of 2hr 4 min with a typical LA warning of 3 hr 30 min in traffic.

So 98 min to go 77.7 miles or .79 miles per minute for NJ.
And 124 min to go 120 miles (.96 miles/minute) not in traffic and 210 min to go 120 miles (.57 miles/minute) in traffic.

This is all from Google maps calculations though, so take it or leave it.

[GeneralHankerchief]

This was just such a dumb move on Christie's part. Half the state already wants his blood because of his budget cuts and taking on the unions, which are still quite powerful in NJ (one-off anecdote: my mother, a retired NJ teacher, has pretty much told me that Christie is her least favorite politician ever, which is a shock since I had heard her absolutely ripping W at every opportunity for 8 straight years), and now he goes and does probably the single-worst thing possible for his public image. Seriously, even a sex scandal might not be as bad for him. All of the national Republican establishment loves the guy and wishes he would run in 2012, I very much doubt he'll even be able to hold onto his own state in 2011.

Our last governor, Corzine, got in hot water a while back because he got in a bad accident and it was revealed that his driver was going over 100. Maybe Christie was trying to avoid that mistake...?

Also, NJ traffic actually isn't that bad. Cherry Hill (where I live) to Morristown is about a 90-minute drive, slightly less, and Trenton is like 30-40 minutes on the way there.

[Strike For The South]

My God.

That is terrible traffic

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

My God.

That is terrible traffic

It looks like what I imagine the Road to Perdition looks like.

Ugh, glad I don't drive.

[Samurai Waki]

80 Miles Per Hour? Hahahahahaha... yeah, that's the "posted speed limit" 105 is about the average until someone does something stupid.

[PanzerJaeger]

Anyways, the other annoying thing is people who get into the fast lane (sooooooooo many two lanes in one direction freeways around here) and. Never. Get. Out.

YES. The left lane is for passing and passing only. The Germans, as with most things, do driving best. You never see people loitering in the left lane over there.

[Subotan]

Hooray for public transport!

[Hosakawa Tito]

Texas has public transport, for its cattle.

PR disaster for Christie, but he isn't alone. Most of the ruling elite, and their minions, don't include themselves in the "shared sacrifice theory" during tough economic times.