TRUCK!

 Long Island has two types of limited access highways:  expressways and parkways.

Expressways are direct routes designed to carry all sorts of traffic, from motorcycles to 18 wheelers. The Long Island Expressway runs east to west almost the entire length of the island, carrying traffic between Manhattan and Riverhead.  The Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway (not-so-fondly referred to as the SOB) carries traffic north from Seaford  to …Syosset.  The road was supposed to continue north to Oyster Bay, but they never finished it.

Parkways, on the other hand, were designed to be scenic, picturesque roadways meant for casual driving.   When the Master Builder Robert Moses designed Long Island’s  parkways he never imagined that they would become major thoroughfares from over congested suburbs around the island and into the city.  

Drive on any of our parkways — the Northern State, the Southern State, the Meadowbrook, the Wantagh — and you will encounter very low overpasses, some with as little as 9 feet of clearance. Consequently commercial traffic is banned on the parkways.

And yet … yesterday on the Northern State I saw a 12 foot truck on the side of the road, right in front of an overpass with less than 11 feet of clearance.  And there was a police officer writing a ticket.  A well-deserved ticket.

At least he had the good sense to stop before he hit the overpass.  Disaster averted.

Unlike the guy in this video: