Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - View Single Post - Moving to Northern Virginia soon. Mind answering some questions?

mdm · 12-17-2016, 12:35 AM

I like living in Va, I mean in NoVa, I am not sure if I would like living in RoVa very much

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There are many things you may like or dislike in Va, I don't like how it is run politically (but let's not go there), a Californian may not like the weather, and so on.

But here are some Va facts related to cars and driving

Watch your speed. Driving 80 or more, or 20 or more above the limit, is automatically reckless driving. It may get reduced to "improper driving" in court, but that's not guaranteed.

Watch your speed carefully in certain areas, mostly rural, like between Shenandoah and NoVa, speed enforcement may be very strict.

You cannot use radar detectors or jammers, you can't even have one in the car.

There are no speed cameras (which I think is not good, I'd happily accept speed cameras in residential zones in exchange for lifting this idiotic automatic reckless speeding thing).

You generally may use handheld cell phone while driving (but not in DC or, I think, in MD - you will probably go there quite often when living in NoVa). Some other traffic laws differ between VA, DC and MD: the automatic 80 mph reckless driving of course is VA specific. Left turn on red from one-way road into another one-way road is allowed in VA and MD, but not in DC. MD and DC have speed cameras. Make sure that your registration renewal is not overdue when going to DC, they are super strict about it. Also, when parking in DC carefully read all signs on the block. Especially watch for rush hour no-parking signs, these are strictly enforced, fines are high and towing away frequent. Fighting a parking ticket in DC is very hard.

Back to VA: road design and traffic engineering may be, well surprising. There may be no superelevation on fast corners. Don't trust "recommended speed" signs, I know corners with recommended speed 25 that can be easily taken at 45, and others with recommended 25 which feel tight at 20.

In winter the temperature often hovers around freezing, which is very bad for the pavement. Expect many potholes late in winter and throughout spring.

There will be snow every now and then, though usually it is removed from roads quite quickly, and there is little traffic then because most people freak out and cease driving.

Traffic in NoVa and DC area in general is pretty bad. Some highways are always bad, other are unpredictable. There is quite a lot of HOV and HOT lanes. Some are HOV/HOT-2, some are -3. You'll need EZpass to pay tolls in HOT lanes on 95 and 495. If you are planning to go HOV-3 (unlikely in a twin...) on these HOT lanes, you need a special EZpass Flex which you can only get from VA, not from other states (EZpass systems works in much of the Northeast)

12-17-2016, 12:35 AM	#12
mdm not a twin owner Join Date: Jan 2016 Drives: 2016 Veloster Turbo DCT Location: Northern Virginia, USA Posts: 734 Thanks: 992 Thanked 463 Times in 267 Posts Mentioned: 7 Post(s) Tagged: 2 Thread(s)	I like living in Va, I mean in NoVa, I am not sure if I would like living in RoVa very much . There are many things you may like or dislike in Va, I don't like how it is run politically (but let's not go there), a Californian may not like the weather, and so on. But here are some Va facts related to cars and driving Watch your speed. Driving 80 or more, or 20 or more above the limit, is automatically reckless driving. It may get reduced to "improper driving" in court, but that's not guaranteed. Watch your speed carefully in certain areas, mostly rural, like between Shenandoah and NoVa, speed enforcement may be very strict. You cannot use radar detectors or jammers, you can't even have one in the car. There are no speed cameras (which I think is not good, I'd happily accept speed cameras in residential zones in exchange for lifting this idiotic automatic reckless speeding thing). You generally may use handheld cell phone while driving (but not in DC or, I think, in MD - you will probably go there quite often when living in NoVa). Some other traffic laws differ between VA, DC and MD: the automatic 80 mph reckless driving of course is VA specific. Left turn on red from one-way road into another one-way road is allowed in VA and MD, but not in DC. MD and DC have speed cameras. Make sure that your registration renewal is not overdue when going to DC, they are super strict about it. Also, when parking in DC carefully read all signs on the block. Especially watch for rush hour no-parking signs, these are strictly enforced, fines are high and towing away frequent. Fighting a parking ticket in DC is very hard. Back to VA: road design and traffic engineering may be, well surprising. There may be no superelevation on fast corners. Don't trust "recommended speed" signs, I know corners with recommended speed 25 that can be easily taken at 45, and others with recommended 25 which feel tight at 20. In winter the temperature often hovers around freezing, which is very bad for the pavement. Expect many potholes late in winter and throughout spring. There will be snow every now and then, though usually it is removed from roads quite quickly, and there is little traffic then because most people freak out and cease driving. Traffic in NoVa and DC area in general is pretty bad. Some highways are always bad, other are unpredictable. There is quite a lot of HOV and HOT lanes. Some are HOV/HOT-2, some are -3. You'll need EZpass to pay tolls in HOT lanes on 95 and 495. If you are planning to go HOV-3 (unlikely in a twin...) on these HOT lanes, you need a special EZpass Flex which you can only get from VA, not from other states (EZpass systems works in much of the Northeast)