These parkways were built starting in the 1920's to get people in their cars from NYC to the beaches and parks on Long Island. All of the parkways end at state parks. They were never meant for commercial traffic. It has nothing to do with politics or corruption or stupidity.
These parkways are really obsolete. The entrance/exit ramps are too short and exits are too numerous (some less than a mile apart). The bridges are too low. They are very curvy. They have blind spots from hills and curves. They are barely suitable for modern passenger cars.
But they travel through very densely populated areas and are very heavily used. Raising every bridge would take decades, cost billions and wreak havoc on already horrible traffic.
There are signs at every entrance and signs before all bridges. On top of that, the driver did not use a commercial GPS.
It is a common mistake so a height restrictive warning barrier on entrance ramps may be the only answer.
