10.29.2005

First snow

Got off the roads this morning before the snow hit. I decided to leave the driving to the amateurs today. Let them get the kinks worked out in this wet, slushy crap while I'm tucked safely inside my home. I hope I'm as lucky next time it snows.

When I'm not so lucky, though, I have a principle that comes in handy. People lose one-third of their IQ when it rains and two-thirds when it snows. I used to say they lost those portions of their "driving" IQ, but I stopped making that distinction because most of the poor judgment exercised in inclement weather is done by people I assume are otherwise competent drivers.

I will never forget one time in particular, and this cemented my loathing for people who stop to let out side street traffic when it isn't safe to do so.

I was driving home from high school on a road that was normally 40 mph in one of the first cumulative snows of the season. I was a junior, and I had my license less than six months. Even with such little driving experience, I knew one thing: snow makes cars slide. That is why it is unwise to stop short, lest hit something or be hit. The lady in front of me didn't understand that principle and almost got creamed by me when she stopped to let someone make a left turn across our lane from a side street. I pumped the brakes in my rusted out 1982 Corolla hatchback and cut the wheel. This allowed me to turn completely sideways in the street, but I didn't hit her, nor leave my lane of travel. Nope, I was just sideways in my lane, hoping the car behind me could stop in time before it sandwiched me.

I quickly righted myself and continued on behind this lady who stopped at local coffee shop a little further down the road. Full of piss and vinegar (who isn't at 16?), I addressed the lady angrily and told her she was damn lucky she wasn't riding in ambulance right now. After explaining the result of her side street courtesy, it was clear she didn't understand when she offered a weak apology. She said she didn't even hear my horn. Amazing.

I'd say that was the first time I wished I had the power to write traffic tickets. I've wished for it so many times since, that I've turned to this blog as therapy, and because I know there are so many people out there who share my pain.

|

10.21.2005

What a sad irony

I awoke this morning to hear about the tragic car accident in Bridgewater involving Bridgewater State College students. One was reported dead. Two more were reported seriously injured. The driver was reported to be drunk. The alleged drunken driver was 19; two years younger than the legal drinking age, and she was allegedly driving in front of a bar in town when the accident occurred.

What's makes the pain of this accident more acute is the fact that the state Legislature is being rapped this week by the governor and advocates for stronger drunken driving penalties for its watering down Melanie's Bill, a measure that would require very strict rules for repeat drunken driving offenders. I would hope that this death would shake some sense into the brains of the politicians on Beacon Hill.

I was listening to Howie Carr last night on the way home from work, and a defense attorney was telling Howie how his clients have had prior arrests on their records (solely for drunken driving wasn't clear) that weren't theirs, and he was arguing that this was a reason why the proposed law was bad (judges could use prior records in determining sentencing, unlike now). That may be the case for some people, but I wonder how many people lugged in for DUI are affected by this. As such, this example isn't a reason to consider softer drunken driving laws. But the deadly accident, which also injured another student and a man standing in the group, should be the reason we toughen our drunken driving laws. It's apparent to me that we don't have enough of a deterrent to drunken driving, and if someone gets a harsh sentence on the first offense, he or she will be less likely to drink and drive again.

|

10.19.2005

Now that's a real close call

Yesterday I noted the close call of a stray rubber ball landing on the highway in front of my car, and I thought briefly about the possible damage it could have caused were I going 65 rather than stopped in traffic. Well, after reading this story in the Herald. I'm very lucky to only have to worry about rubber balls. The Boston City Council president escaped his car which was damaged by a stray bullet. Luckily no one was hurt.

This is a pretty grave situation. Bullets shouldn't be flying on the streets of any civilized city at any time of day. I'm glad nobody was hurt, too.

|

10.18.2005

Someone else's impression

Beth's Grand Mental Station was kind enough to trackback to my blog. I noticed Beth's own post thanks also to Universal Hub, which always has its eyes peeled for good blog copy.

|

Um, OK, that's different

I was on my home tonight thinking about other things (although today I realized I hadn't posted anything here in a while) when something occurred that jarred me out of my traffic-induced reverie.

There I was sitting in traffic on Route 93 South heading towards E. Milton Square. I was a few yards from the exit I was taking today when traffic stopped. Nothing new here. But before traffic picked up again, something fell in front of my car. As it bounced off the ground and off the side of the tractor trailer next to me, I realized it was a rubber ball. It happened so quickly, that if I had anyone else in the car with me I doubt they would have even noticed it. I had to even replay it in my mind to make sure it happened.

It appears the ball, the pink rubber kind that is slightly larger than a racquet ball was somehow propelled over the sound barriers on the Southbound side. Intentionally or otherwise, this thing came flying over and into traffic. A foot either way and this thing would have bounced off my hood or the trunk of the car in front of me. I dare not think what might have happened if I were at cruising speed. A rubber ball couldn't have done much damage, but it might have cracked my windshield with a direct hit at 60 mph.

Oh well, just another day of oddities on the roads.

|

10.03.2005

The (ab)use of emergency lights

Occasionally in my driving career I have seen a few police cars racing by with their flashing lights on only to shut them off once through a particular knot of traffic. It could have been the result of a canceled call, or it could have been simply to get through traffic. As a regular listener to police scanners, I have heard calls canceled or responders told to slow down because the response isn't as urgent as initially thought. I also always give emergency vehicles the right of way.

Twice in less than a week, I've seen the flashing lights come on for nothing more than lane changes. The first came last Wednesday, Sept. 28, when I was driving south on Route 128 at the North Shore Mall in Peabody. I saw the flashing blue lights of a police vehicle turn on a few cars ahead of me. That lane slowed to allow the vehicle to enter. Because my lane kept its speed, I eventually caught up to the police vehicle, which turned out to be a black pickup with a special cap on the back that had strobes built into the back of the cap. It wasn't the type of cap on the back of most passenger pickups. Aside from the strobes on the back that were white when shut off and blue when on, there were no other markings showing it was a police vehicle.

What's more, the truck had regular commercial plates, not blue state plates indicating it was a public safety vehicle. I immediately thought it was a sham perpetrated by the driver to get the traffic on the highway to slow so he could slip into the highway. Later that night I saw a very similar truck, also with a non-blue, non-state vehicle plate on the news at a police scene in Somerville where some type of explosive was found in a house. Since this truck's special cap shape matched the one I saw on the road, as did the placement and type of strobes in the back, I figured it must be a type of unmarked vehicle. OK. But there was still no need to turn on the lights.

Tonight, on my way out of the Tip O'Neill Tunnel, Boston Fire Engine 9 was coming up the on-ramp that used to be fed by the Ted Williams Tunnel outlet to Route 93 South. It, too, had its flashing lights on. I watched it as I tried to give it wide berth. The siren wasn't blaring, and the truck didn't seem to be in any hurry to change lanes. With a few quick movements thanks to fooled drivers, Engine 9 moved over the to right and shut off its emergency lights. It never turned them on again before exiting at Mass. Ave., and Melnea Cass Blvd. There was no emergency, just like the quasi police vehicle above.

The only reason I question this practice is that, like the old adage about the boy who cried wolf, people will eventually question whether they should give way or treat emergency vehicles like any other obnoxious driver trying to make it through traffic a little easier. The sad irony is whenever I talk to first responders about the challenges they face getting through traffic during a real emergency, one of them is the fact that many drivers don't clear intersections, don't pull over or cut them off. This practice of using the lights to get through traffic doesn't help. In fact it hurts. It makes it much less likely drivers are going to get out of the way, and with my luck it will be when I need the first responders most, God forbid.

|