Friday, March 19, 2010

Parking (and Driving) in Boston


No Parking! Tow Zone! No Problem in Boston as you can see. Driving, and parking, in any urban area is difficult, but especially so in Boston, a city noted for its bad drivers. John in the UK posted a similar photo of scofflaws last week from one of his trips to Boston.

To further enhance the reputation of Boston drivers, The Travel Channel is running a series on America's Worst Drivers this Sunday, and the city featured this week, no surprise to me, is Boston.

(Please note: I removed the video link as it is now dated)

15 comments:

lewi14@gmail.com said...

We have the same problems in Stuttgart too. And it keeps getting worse. Therefore it is a very good and timely photo.

Mirela said...

A scary video! :) Are they at least slow drivers? While living i Seattle, I found out its drivers were incredibly slow and no one ever honked, so it compensated for the fact they couldn't drive (or park).

B SQUARED said...

Boston drivers are not made. They are hatched.

John said...

Thanks for the cross post; I didn't think the driving was that bad in Boston, but then I may be biased after trying to take an SUV with 7 people through Pisa in Italy. I daren't try Rome.

joo said...

Well, you should try to drive here:)
I'm afraid that you know nothing about bad and crazy drivers!!!!
I love this video, by the way:)

Malyss said...

Nice has in France the same fame than Boston about parking ways. For the driving way, Marseille and Paris share the Oscar.. But, in the little movie, the worst american drivers are supposed to be only women?....May I have a little doubt?..Ü

brattcat said...

In the past, when Boston drivers see our Vermont license plate they are somewhat tolerant of the fact that we don't know the 'rules.' We'll see if that's still the case when we arrive next weekend.

Merritt by Design said...

My mom moved to Haverhill about 20 years ago, a very shy driver. That did not last long!! :-) She says it is the "eat or be eaten" state of mind.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious! But I am happy to have a nice city parking garage myself. :)

amatamari© said...

Eh eh come to Italy and then laugh ...
:-)

Chuck Pefley said...

I think that problem is pretty universal in large cities. I can say from experience that Boston takes a very no-nonsense view of not obeying the parking signs, however. Several years ago I parked in front of the downtown UPS facility long enough to carry a pre addressed box inside and literally drop it on the counter ... only to find a ticket on my car when I went back outside! Very frustrating!!

Cezar and Léia said...

In Luxembourg city they're quite strict about wrong parking, tickets abound! :)
God bless you!
Cezar

Lowell said...

Funny! The photo reminds me of Europe. But I spend some time in Boston in the mid-70s and do recall driving was hazardous to your health...not that Boston is much different than any other large city!

Stefan Jansson said...

There's a TV show in Sweden about the worst drivers. One of the people I have previously photographed for my blog could be seen on that show. His mother was a very bad driver. But it was fun to watch!

Kitty said...

It's funny to me that NYers make fun of Boston drivers all the time, when we ourselves are awful and dangerous on the roads.

From personal experience, I'd say New Jersey takes the cake. Every time we encounter someone very bad, they have NJ plates, lol.