New Jersey drivers shock out-of-towner in viral video

A woman who gained a sizable following by sharing good news probably wouldn't put New Jersey drivers in that category.

Kristen Hampton, who rose to prominence sharing happy stories for a North Carolina news station and has maintained an active Facebook Live following, recently had her first brush with driving in New Jersey. Hampton was on the New Jersey Turnpike Saturday when she learned a lesson about driving that most New Jersey natives know well.

"I was driving on the Turnpike and I was going a good 70, 75 to which I realized was not quite a fast enough speed," she said. "Everybody else was going 115 mph and then I went to get off an exit because I had to go to the restroom and I was like, 'What in the holy name of America is this?"

Hampton's video was shared over 39,000 times on Facebook with 44,000 reactions and 10,000 comments.

Gas station attendants surprised Hampton too. Though not exactly unique to New Jersey, Hampton was also in awe of the rest area's setup.

"There’s all these places like this place called Roy Rogers which I don’t even know what that is," she said.

"There’s a big old food court in there. It’s like you don’t drive to different places. You just roll up in here. You go and get your gas. You go in there you go to the bathroom. You roll up at the Roy Rogers, you get you some Wendy’s, some Popeyes, whatever it is you want but we’re in New freakin' Jersey."

Hampton did not specify where in New Jersey she was. 

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It was then Hampton's turn to shock someone else. She did so with a small courtesy by holding a door for someone. He gave her an enthusiastic "thank you."

"Like it was some huge deal like I had just given him some sort of kidney or something," she said.

One person commented on her video that the Turnpike is just the tip of the iceberg. 

"Let me tell you: The Turnpike is a breeze compared to 287 and I-78," she wrote. "If going that fast is scary, then I guess I'm just used to it."

Another person sympathized with Hampton's ordeal on the road.

"We refer to very short merge lanes as the 'Jersey merge' these days after seeing how short their on ramps are," she wrote.

Email: jongsma@northjersey.com