Originally Posted by
Standalone
We just toured the North Shore of Long Island and the Connecticut Shoreline. Though separated by a few miles of water or highway, the driving culture was completely different. Narrow, heavily traveled “country” roads on the north shore and north fork saw universal competent passing even with fast driving.
Connecticut was terrifying.
As a contrasting experience, I had a truly wonderful time riding on the roads of southeastern Connecticut this spring, from the shoreline up to about 15 miles inland.
In fact, I had such a wonderful time that I finally became comfortable with the idea of riding on roads, where previously I'd been all but exclusively sticking to rail trails.
A couple of times I ventured places where the speed limit and lack of a shoulder made that in retrospect a decision I'll probably not repeat, but people were fairly reasonable about that, too.
Not meaning to diminish or doubt anyone else's experience, I just don't think you can generalize by state, but really have to consider particular localities, types of road, times of day, and what sort of day a particular driver is having.