Afraid of Being Side-Swiped While Driving? Avoid 84 in Danbury

What's the most terrifying feeling when you're driving? I think it's almost being side-swiped by an inattentive driver. You see it coming, but they don't. I'm terrified of driving along I-84 East and West between Exit 3 and 8 in Danbury lately, I think I'm finally done I-84, I give up.

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I was almost side-swiped three different times on I-84 Eastbound in Danbury yesterday. Three times I felt that cold chill, anticipating that jolt, the sound of glass, metal and plastic smashing together. Watching a 2,200 pound SUV come within inches of your passenger door at 65 MPH is terrifying, and this stretch of I-84 in Danbury is the worst.

I'm getting to the point where I don't want to drive on 84 any more. The real problem is there are so many on and off-ramps through Danbury, it creates forced-merges almost every half mile. The Rt. 7 and Rt. 6 merges, 2 lanes, to three lanes, to 5 lanes, to two lanes, ugh. Add in the summer time New York, Jersey and Mass plates passing through, and it creates a perfect storm of inattentive, swerving drivers every day.

Another problem that is really making me reconsider driving on our highways is the alarming increase in wrong-way drivers. According to nbcconnecticut.com, there have been 86 wrong-way crashes, and there have already been 12 fatal injuries so far in 2022 here in Connecticut.

There have already been major improvements on 84 between exit 3 and 8, like increasing the visibility by hacking down all of those trees by the Exit 7 area, and that lane realignment that was implemented a couple of years back. But they didn't curb the inattentive downtown drivers sauntering up to the Exit 5 on-ramp area, or the lazy crossers that attempt to drift across 84 East to make the Exit 8 off-ramp. I'm done, it's 202 for me from now on.