Somehow, Thanksgiving is already next week. If you are hosting Thanksgiving, you probably have a million and one things to do to get ready. However, more than likely you are not alone in this. Because of this, traffic tends to build up the days preceding Thanksgiving, reaching a climax the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So here are some things to expect, that should help you be safer on the road for the week leading up to Thanksgiving. A lot of these trends are based off of Google Maps traffic trends for Thanksgiving.
Typically, Long Island experiences the most traffic during the surrounding hours of a typical work day (between 7-10am and 4-6pm). However, during the week of Thanksgiving, traffic trends show that heaviest morning traffic will shift later on, peaking at noon. To avoid heavy traffic in New York when you plan on going shopping, the best time to go is between 10-11 am, or after 6pm. Commutes to and from work may be slightly lighter, but relatively the same
If you are caught in heavy traffic, it can be frustrating. Unfortunately, there is really nothing you can do about it. So it’s best to stay calm and not let it affect your mood. This will prevent you from doing something unsafe in an effort to get through the heavy traffic. Weaving from lane to lane and aggressive acceleration is dangerous. It is not worth getting into an accident to save a mere couple of seconds in traffic. Rather, you should do all you can to stay focused, and expect the unexpected in these heavily trafficked scenarios.
When people are anxious and impatient, there is a greater chance that they will do something unsafe. The holiday season is a more stressful time of the year for a lot of people, due to the things that are now added to their schedule to get done. This means you should pay special attention to stay focused while you are driving.
When you are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, there is a major temptation to give in to distracted driving. Avoid the temptation to take advantage of the “opportunity” to eat, look at your phone or apply makeup. Often times, other cars make sudden stops, turns and lane changing in heavy traffic and if you are not paying attention, you could easily cause a collision. Additionally, while music can be calming and help pass the time, don’t get too into your music. This is another easy way to lose focus.
While adhering to basic driving fundamentals is always important, it is especially important in heavy traffic situations to always let other drivers be aware of what your vehicle is doing. Long Islanders sometimes have a habit of turning on their directional after they have begun changing lanes. This is not helpful for anyone to anticipate what you are doing, and New York State law require at least a 100 foot warning via turn signal before you turn, merge or change lanes. Further, it is even more important to check your blind spot before changing lanes. Although it isn’t safe, many cars like to tailgate in heavy traffic so changing lanes can be especially hazardous and only do so if there is a safe amount of space. Avoid cutting people off, it saves you little to no time.
November up until Christmas is the biggest shopping time of the year, but grocery stores and bakeries are at their absolute peak the days before Thanksgiving. If you are trying to get something fresh at the bakery, plan way ahead of time. Bakeries are busy all day the day before Thanksgiving, but the busiest time is at noon. If possible, going to a bakery right when they open is the best time to get something and avoid congestion. Additionally, grocery stores are busiest at around 3pm, and liquor stores are busiest shortly after.
Whenever there is high congestion in businesses, this also means parking lots will be very crowded. Additionally, Black Friday, and the weekend following will have stores and parking lots swamped with holiday shoppers. Although Black Friday weekend isn’t particularly heavy in traffic, the parking lots can be a big hazard. Parking lots always have the potential of causing a car accident. More than 50000 car accidents occur in a parking lot every year. These parking lots may be more busy then most, so the cars will be coming in and out.
It is very important that you pay lots of attention to your surroundings. Look out for cars backing up, and be careful at intersections. Anticipate the actions of other drivers and be prepared to use your horn if another car does not seem to see you, especially if they are backing up and getting too close. It is also important to drive slow as there are shoppers walking all over the place, weaving in and out of parked cars. You do not want to be liable for a pedestrian accident.
Additionally, do not use your phone while you are driving in a parking lot; you are still driving and it is still a distraction. This is important to mention because studies show that 66% of drivers nationwide said they would make phone calls while driving in a parking lot.
As we approach the holiday season, we can expect a little more chaos on the road as we all try to get the things we need. Be alert, avoid distractions, and get to the bakery as early as you can. Ultimately, planning ahead and having patience are key to making your holiday shopping as smooth as possible.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
One activity that is really nice to do on Long Island is to visit one of its many vineyards and go wine tasting. The majority of these vineyards can be found in the eastern end of Long Island. Starting in Riverhead, NY and extending to the North and South Forks. Additionally, there are many breweries throughout the island. This time of year, many of the vineyards and breweries are hosting events during the fall time. Some of these events include fall festivals, food pairings, and live musical events. Here are just a few exciting events occurring at vineyards and breweries in eastern Suffolk County, Long Island.
This Calverton winery has been running for 12 years now, and animal lovers will especially enjoy this property. The Bating Hollow Farm Vineyard has a horse farm on the property with horses that were rescued by the owners over the years. The winery hosts tours of the horse stables, and profits from their wines go towards horse rescue efforts.
The wine tasting itself occurs in their tasting house, where you can enjoy varieties such as rieslings, chardonnays, rosé, and even gewürztraminer, a German dessert wine. It also produces a cabernet franc rosé dessert wine called Cheval Bleu. Among the winery’s newest offerings are a dry rosé called Pink Satin and a second run of the very popular Sam’s Legacy Merlot.
Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard features live music year round on weekends and has added beer and hard cider service and an artisanal cheese bar. Attached to the tasting house, you can find a gift shop for purchasing souvenirs.
One interesting treat when visiting this Jamesport estate is that guests can actually watch the wine being produced while they taste. Guests can often see the winemakers pressing grapes and bottling the wines themselves. Jamesport Vineyards has been operating for over 30 years and at this point have become experts at providing the perfect wine pairing experience.
To make things even more exciting, attached to the vineyard is NOFO Pizza. Opening just a couple months ago, the winery now has a wood fire pizza place located in the renovated Milford T. Benjamin farmhouse.
Guests can get the opportunity to taste a variety of wines including chardonnay, Albariño, riesling, cabernet franc, ligroin, teroldego, and petit verdot.
A brand new winery opened this summer in Riverhead, taking over the previous Martha Clara Vineyards. The Rivero Gonzalez family plans on having new products and a new approach to wine as it established it’s own brand.
This vineyard places high priority to it’s wines value in including quality, heritage and innovation. They have focused on a reduced product range, with quality as it’s main focus. They plan on doing a six-course “Holidays in the Vines” dinner to bring a complete pairing experience for its guests.
Perhaps the most popular vineyard in Long Island, Wölffer Estate offers delightful tastings in both of its locations in Sagaponack as well as the North Fork. The tasting room at Wölffer Estate is both a center of activity and place of tranquility.
Newly renovated in March 2017, guests are welcomed with wonderful views overlooking the lush vineyards to the east and the gently rolling Hamptons landscape to the west. Operating for over 30 years, Wölffer Estate offers award winning wines, ciders and spirits in their tasting room and outside on their large pergola. They offer many events each month including tours, live music, educational workshops, cellar barrel tastings and more. They have live music every Friday and an annual fall festival every October.
Wölffer wines stand in the company of the world’s nest, earning excellent scores and reviews from some of the most prestigious voices in wine. Recent accomplishments include a nomination for American Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast and outstanding scores from Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.
For anyone in Riverhead who favors hard cider, the Riverhead Cider house is the place to go. They offer an exciting variety of unique ciders both locally made, and from around New York. They take pride in using New York’s finest apples to produce interesting and quality brews for their guest. Some flavors they have for their ciders include ginger, prickly pear, Rosé and even a PB&J infused cider.
Additionally, they offer gourmet pizza, flatbreads and other snacks to enjoy along with your cider. They have a Bingo Night every Monday and live music every weekend through the fall season.
For the beer lovers in Riverhead, a visit to the Long Ireland Beer Company is a must. This brewery offers specialty Irish ales. They have different season beers every year and this fall you can order pumpkin ales and even an oktoberfest brew. Additionally, they host a Halloween costume party every year. This year, the Halloween event will occur on Saturday October 26th.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The fall is an especially nice time in Long Island to go to breweries and vineyards. The weather is nice and crisp, and the atmosphere out east is more calming than it would be in the summer. It’s important to remember to plan ahead to make sure someone has agreed to be the designated driver should you plan a visit. When driving around the Long Island Wine Region, there is a risk of coming face to face with a driver who may be intoxicated. If you think you have found yourself in that situation, please follow these tips to get home safely.
Take note of the signs of a drunk driver. Teach your children who may now be driving as well so they can learn to drive defensively as well. A driver may be drunk if he/she is:
If you see some of these things taking place, it is likely you are sharing the road with a drunk driver. First and foremost you want to stay safe, and then do what you can to report the driver. Follow these steps:
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
Now that it is officially autumn, our daylight is progressively shrinking into the night. Currently around this time of year, we have pretty close to equal parts sunshine and darkness. As a result, the sun glare tends to be at its strongest during peak driving hours for Long Islanders heading to and from work. This is especially the case for those driving eastbound in the morning and westbound at night, since the sun will be directly beaming on their vehicles during the entire commute.
Although sun glare happens throughout the year, it is the most dangerous during the fall and spring due to the high amounts of drivers who are potentially blinded by its light. Therefore, it’s important to account for this and use safe driving tactics to avoid getting into a motor vehicle accident. Here are some tips to drive safely despite the sun glare.
Sun glasses are a sure fire way to reduce the possibility of being blinded by the sun. That is, assuming that the sunglasses are polarized. Polarized sunglasses can effectively block the sun’s rays from blinding you, as well as prevent eye strain. Always keeping a pair of polarized sunglasses in your car will leave you prepared for sun glare at any given time.
This goes without saying, but sun visors are there for a reason. Avoid having things on your sun visor or windshield that prevent it from being used properly. The goal is to have it block the sun glare while also having it block your field of vision by as little as possible.
When the sun is particularly strong during traffic, it is not the time to be cutting people off or tailgating. Not only is your visibility and reaction time worsened by the sun, but so are the other drivers. Do not count on them for seeing or anticipating what you are doing, because their vision may be partially blinded as well. Therefore, be patient, slow down, and leave space between you and the car in front of you. Maybe your commute is a little slower, but it would be much slower if you got into a car accident for driving recklessly.
Sun glare makes it hard enough to see, but a dirty windshield amplifies that. Spots and debris on your windshield can actually act like a veil if the sun hits it. In addition to cleaning it, ensure that you have windshield wiper fluid so that you can quickly rinse off your windshield to get the dirt off while driving.
This is helpful for oncoming traffic, and is something you should do even if you yourself aren’t getting sun glare. Since the visibility of the drivers going in the opposite direction is impaired, having your headlights on will allow them to see your vehicle easily. This is really helpful for drivers who have to make a left turns at an intersection, but have to face a heavy glare from the sun.
Hopefully, these tips help your commute home from work a little safer despite the beaming sun. It’s important to note that once the sun goes down, we advise you to take your sunglasses off. Wearing sunglasses at night is perhaps more dangerous than temporary sun glare. Take precaution and do what you can to keep you and your family safe.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
Now that it is fall-time, everyone and their mother wants to go apple picking. New York has many really nice farms, orchards, and pumpkin patches in eastern Suffolk County, Long Island as well as upstate, New York. These farms often have a numerous amount of fall activities for the whole family. Since Long Island is basically bottlenecked from driving upstate, the easier option for most families is to go to the farms out in Eastern Suffolk.
This annual trend is enjoyed at the expense of Riverhead. Riverhead is the town in Eastern Long Island that is located just before the North fork begins. Most of the farms and orchards on Long Island begin at Riverhead, and extend east into the North Fork. As a result, traffic gets brutal during the fall weekends.
Heavy traffic is nothing new for Long Islanders, but it still poses a hazard for drivers. Additionally, there’s often increased frustration when the traffic is heavy on roads that the driver didn’t anticipate. Roads like Sound Ave and 25 can be bumper to bumper all the way up to the farm’s parking lot. While it is always important to drive safely, it is especially important to drive extra safely in these scenarios where many of the cars have children. Here are some helpful reminders for safe driving in heavy traffic.
If you and your family plan on getting to Riverhead, give yourself plenty of time to get out there. Don’t put yourself in a stressful situation by not taking into account the traffic. You may look at a GPS ahead of time to get a good idea of how long it will take. Keep in mind also that often times there is traffic just before arriving, due to the parking lot being backed up. If you feel rushed, you are more likely to do something unsafe. Check the traffic conditions and leave early.
Traffic is frustrating. And other drivers are also unhappy about it. Unfortunately, there is really nothing you can do about it. Most of the farms are right off of Sound Ave or 25, leaving no alternate routes. So it’s best to stay calm and not let it affect your mood. This will prevent you from doing something unsafe in an effort to get through the heavy traffic. Weaving from lane to lane and aggressive acceleration is dangerous. It is not worth getting into an accident to save a mere couple of seconds in traffic. Getting into an accident on a day dedicated to family fun is the last thing you want. Rather, you should do all you can to stay focused, and expect the unexpected in these heavily trafficked scenarios.
When you are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, there is a major temptation to give in to distracted driving. Avoid the temptation to take advantage of the “opportunity” to eat, look at your phone or apply makeup. Often times, other cars make sudden stops, turns and lane changing in heavy traffic and if you are not paying attention, you could easily cause a collision. Additionally, while music can be calming and help pass the time, don’t get too into your music. This is another easy way to lose focus.
While adhering to basic driving fundamentals is always important, it is especially important in heavy traffic situations to always let other drivers be aware of what your vehicle is doing. Long Islanders sometimes have a habit of turning on their directional after they have begun changing lanes. This is not helpful for anyone to anticipate what you are doing, and New York State law require at least a 100 foot warning via turn signal before you turn, merge or change lanes.
Further, it is even more important to check your blind spot before changing lanes. Although it isn’t safe, many cars like to tailgate in heavy traffic so changing lanes can be especially hazardous and only do so if there is a safe amount of space. Avoid cutting people off, it saves you little to no time.
The parking at many of the Riverhead orchards and farms can be very hectic. Parking lots always have the potential of causing a car accident. More than 50000 car accidents occur in a parking lot every year. These parking lots may be more busy then most, so the cars will be coming in and out.
It is very important that you pay lots of attention to your surroundings. Look out for cars backing up, and be careful at intersections. A lot of the lots on the orchards aren’t paved, so be really careful when parking, and give yourself and other cars adequate space. Anticipate the actions of other drivers and be prepared to use your horn if another car does not seem to see you, especially if they are backing up and getting too close. It is also important to drive slow as there are families walking all over the place. You do not want to be liable for a pedestrian accident.
Additionally, do not use your phone while you are driving in a parking lot; you are still driving and it is still a distraction. This is important to mention because studies show that 66% of drivers nationwide said they would make phone calls while driving in a parking lot.
Although driving can be hectic, going to an orchard in Riverhead can be a really enjoyable experience for the whole family. Here are a couple orchards out in eastern Long Island and what you can expect should you visit.
Harbes is one of the most popular orchards in Riverhead. It has over 20 varieties of apples along with other fall activities like hayrides, pumpkin picking and a corn maze. They even do special events like the Spooky Maze around Halloween. They also have wine tastings and food concessions.
Located in Calverton, this farm is unique in that it offers a variety of produce you can pick from. In addition to apples, you can pick berries, peppers and eggplants just to name a few. They also have a corn maze and a farm stand.
Parents love Woodside as it not only has apple picking, but they actually make their own hard cider and do weekly tastings. They host these tastings every Saturday and Sunday in both Aquebogue and Jamesport.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.