In those torrential downpours, it really pays to have Rain-X, or a comparable product, on your windshield so the water beads up and rolls off. It makes such a huge difference in visibility that while on long trips, I’ve pulled over, bought the product, and put it on the windshield before getting back on the highway.
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I always carried a bottle of Rainex in my bag and a clean rag to put it on with when I was a trucker. Windshield wipers malfunctions are not uncommon and I made more money by the mile running down the road than I did by the hour being broke down. Also, you did notm get paiduntil you got to a phone and called in in those pre cell phone days. Even when I got a cell phone 31 years ago, the extra life battery only lasted 6 hours. There was no plug for a charger in the trucks and we got a different tractor every day, sometimes 3 times a day and if you did carry the cell phone with you the roaming charges back then would eat you alive.
Even when I used the cell phone at home I would be arguing with the carrier all the time about roaming charges because sometimes the phone would lock on to a Canadian tower.
I gave my cell phone to another driver when I retired on Hallooeen 1995 aand I never felt the need for one since. I am perfectly comfortable being out of touch and you can always leave a message on my home phone.
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Good idea. In my case, they were rental cars and I’m not putting Rain-X on them. I also pull over until the rain slows enough that I can see traffic in front of me.
You might want to ask a different dealership. It’s $169 online.
Perhaps your dealership was confused and thought you wanted the “bespoke audio with navigation upgrade kit” which is quite a bit more expensive, but likely not what you want or need.
Like I said a couple years ago, I use it on the shower doors but have never used it on the cars. The one time my wipers failed in the rain at night, it was surprising how much the water shed and was reasonably easy to see. A downpour may be a different story though.
All for hex! it’s been a while since I’ve read a core dump in hex so reading the hex signs as I drive would be fun 
At least some of these cities use NAMES for their highways…a traffic report in NYC is full of initials… (even that city name!):
“The BQE is all clogged up if you are trying to get to the RFK bridge…and good luck getting across the GWB…”
And nobody knows the interstate road numbers of these roads.
BQE – Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
RFK – Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy bridge, but everyone knows it by the original name, the Triborough…
GWB – George Washington Bridge.
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I quit going through Chicago when we got an alert on the radio to avoid the tri-something expressway. I don’t remember if it was tri-city, county or state aince there were no road sign or map indications for any such expressway, As soon as we turned onto the toll section of I-94 headed to WI we came to a sudden halt.The road was under construction with concrete barriers on each side. There we sat in the summer heat for 3 1/2 hours.
They has just installed high speed automated overhead toll readers with a ramp to the right to go to a toll booth if you did not have a transponder. Someone in the left lane spotted the tollbooth lane at the last minute and stopped in the left lane. The resulting pileup had destroyed dozens of cars and burned the roadway from the left concrete barrier to the right one several feet deep. We not only had to wait for the cars and trucks to be hauled away, we had to wait for the road to be repaved. Then to get off we had to pay a toll for sitting 3 1/2 hours.
We never did find out how many people were killed.
I think I’ve tried just about every other route to avoid Chicago but still seems like it is the fastest. I don’t remember if I was on 88 or what heading west and must have been construction or something all backed up. So I got my paper map out and just headed north cross country to Wisconsin. Figured got to come out somewhere at some point. I remember because I had to stop quick once and the wife’s cell phone slid from the console right into my coffee cup. She was mad at me for stopping. I’m glad it still worked after we dried it off and the coffee was still ok.
Yep…the second time our little Toyota Starlet was stolen, living in NYC (whole 'nother story…) we did a cost analysis and discovered that even if we rented a car for a vacation, took cabs when necessary (late nights, parties, fancy dress), and our Metrocards monthly for the subways and busses, that was still cheaper than parking tickets, tow truck/impound fees once every several years, and the expense of vehicle insurance (similar to apt. rental!), not to mention gas, tolls, and car maintenance.
An added feature was not having to look out the window several times a night to see if anyone was trying to steal your tires! Much better situation in NYC now–that was 30+ years ago. Of course, having a car inside the city SHOULD be expensive, with congestion and all. The financial disincentives worked well for us…much more exercise walking!
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It’s good and it’s bad. The Federal standard, of course specifies that East-West interstates (even numbers) start numbering at the West border and North-South interstates (odd numbers) start numbering at the South border. (US highways use the same scheme.)
This works fine until there’s a re-route.
I-40 through Winston-Salem (like many of the early interstates) went right through downtown. This meant lots of congestion and tight interchanges due to land scarcity. So when they built the southern bypass loop they realized it would be wise to route the through-traffic on it. The loop was named I-40, and the downtown loop was named “Business I-40” with a red-and green-shield instead of the common red-and-blue version.
But, of course, a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, and so the loop was longer than the old, downtown path. A few years after the bypass opened, NCDOT confessed that they had not renumbered three hundred miles of eastward mile markers and exits–instead there are a couple of 1.3 mile “miles” on the bypass segment!
Don’t use them to calibrate your speedometer or odometer.
There are standards for naming loops too such as a 400, 600, 800, E, W, etc.
There are indeed. The Asheville Bypass is I-240. The Raleigh Bypass is I-440. But there is also a standard permitting the use of the “Business” designation. It’s done on I-40 in Winston-Salem and on I-95 in Fayetteville, both in North Carolina. The linked article also illustrates the green sign.
It is probably up to the states to decide what designation to use. Based in these instances, it appears that when the downtown route is replaced by a loop, the loop gets the original name and the original route is renamed with the Business designation.
Hubbard tunnel is a usual reference in Chicago traffic reports, it has a history of flooding and backups, on I-90/94 does not even show up in my google search
A little confusing. In Minneapolis, the original I35 goes straight through town between MPLS and St. Paul (kinda), but on the south end it turns into I35W then back to I35 again on the north end. There is no I35 going through town. Then there is I35E that goes around the east side. The west side loop though is I494 that collides on the north to I94 which goes a little to the west of I35W. Of course I haven’t been up there for a year so I might be a little off.
At any rate in the old days people would talk about taking 35W when really it was 35. Like take 35W from the Iowa border to Duluth. No, 35 to MPLS, then 35W, then 35 again. Doesn’t matter I guess as long as you keep heading in the right direction.
Way back in the day before gps I hopped on I 35W thinking it would turn into I 35E, had to wander on 494 to get to 52 south, still gps has different ideas of how to get to 52 south, Time before last all freeway, last time stoplights and local traffic. Just because we all care or not a bud recommended 35 to 160th St to coates, and saw the most bizarre left over ww2 concrete structures for unloading stuff umore park. 
The Long Island Expressway is always referred to as “the LIE”.
Many years ago, a NYC disc jockey used to say the following when the LIE was very congested–which was most of the time:
The LIE?
LOL!
Back in those days, LOL stood for “lots of luck”.
The Feds never could buy enough land for I-95 to run through DC. The DC beltway used to I-495 for the entire loop, but not anymore. The western half is still I-495, but the eastern half is now I-95.
If you have the misfortune to be going south on DC-295 through the far eastern side of DC, you can take a “short cut” on I-695. It magically changes to I-395, and then through more magic becomes I-95 at the south intersection with the beltway. The local news and traffic station in DC distinguishes the Baltimore beltway, AKA I-695, from the one in DC by referring the the DC I-695 as the fake 695.
While we are in the subject of confusion.
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