PhxDragon's Blog

How about this?

1:  2 speeding tickets (misdemeanor) and you go to traffic school.

2.  1 felony speeding or subsequent speeding ticket after traffic school and a device is placed (at your expense) in your car.  It relays speed information directly to a computer at DPS and citations will be issued accourding.  The device can tell where you are (GPS) and the speed limit posted for that area (including construction zones).

3.  Accumulated points will suspend or completely sever your driving PRIVILEDGES in this or any other state since you would not be able to monitor yourself, and therefore are a hazard to the general public.

Now, let's work on the red light violators, left turn violators and cell phone using drivers.

I see a growing belief in the myth that camera monitoring on the valley freeways reduces accidents.  This is just that....a MYTH.

The cameras on our freeway system are in place to assist in the reduction of high speed drivers and other dangerous activities.  This will reduce those activities.

If you want cameras to reduce accidents, you would have to place a camera in EVERY vehicle on the freeway!  This way, with the addition of a "kill switch" when authorities detect dangerous driving (i.e. speeding, weaving through traffic, tailgating, etc.) they could push a button, the vehicle(s) involved could then be disabled for a determinate period of time, an officer dispatched or citation be issued to the address on the registration.  Don't hold your breath for this to happen.  It is just a bit of sarcasm.

Watching the traffic around you on our freeways just to avoid a collision is daunting enough.  Seeing a vehicle weaving in a lane, then seeing the driver making a phone call from a cell phone or texting a message on that phone is just as dangerous as some speeding idiot driving 85 on I-10 through the Deck Park Tunnel!

Let the cameras do the job they were designed for and don't place unattainable goals on those pieces of equipment.  Checking the mirrors for vehicles and other turn signals (that switch on the left side of the steering column) before you change lanes (one lane at a time, please) can help tremendously in reducing accidents, both minor and fatal.

Well, here we go again.  For a few weeks, the trend had dropped off, but starting two weeks ago, the number of vehicles in the HOV lane that had more than one person in it (or an alternative fuel plate) dropped considerably!

In the last 5 weekdays, I have counted the following totals:

Single occupant in car:       52

Multiple occupants in car:  20

Alternative fuel plates:         6

These are the numbers of vehicles that passed me while driving North on I-17 between 0545 and 0645!  I don't even look in the Southbound lanes, and I only count the cars that pass me while I am doing approximately the speed limit.  These numbers include cars that pass the vehicle in the #1 lane and get back in the regular lane, the cars that fly (literally) in excess of 10 mph over the limit, and the normal slugs that think if they aren't turning off at this exit, they need to be in the farthest lane from the exit.

Don't even get me started on the ones that dive from the HOV lane to the exit ramp in under 5 car lengths!

DPS, Phoenix PD, MCSO and any other LEO should be especially watchful.  I know the Southbound lanes are full of violators and accidents resulting from those violations, but maybe you guys can split the shift and half roll North and the rest roll South!

Thursday night.  Glendale Arena.  End of the hockey game.  Driving out of the parking lot to Bethany Home to the 101 North.

At the turn from, I think, 83rd to Bethany, there is ONE lane that turns right.  The rest of the lanes are straight South lanes.  Sure enough, 4 cars turning left with the light, another car headed south decides instead of waiting for the 4 cars, they get in the lane to proceed South and then flashed (not turned on) their signal and turned right, nearly hitting the car who was second in line (I was 4th).

The driver of the offending vehicle then sped up in the turning lane and got ahead of the SUV who turned legally, and slammed on the brakes!  I was in the right lane, and proceeded at the speed limit West to the 101.  Guess what?  Yep.  They sped up and tried to cut me off as I got in the right turn lane.  They slowed down at the last instant and tried yet again to turn from the wrong lane. 

Yet another instance I got the plate number.  They then got behind me, flashed their lights and honked the horn, but didn't make it on the 101 with the flow of traffic until a car or two behind me.  I never saw them again.   Shame.

Drivers on Phoenix area roadways have changed.  Instead of just speeding and cutting other drivers off, they have taken up the hobby of "Threading the needle."

Threading the needle is the act of moving to another lane (with or without a turn signal) by nearly clipping the rear bumper of the vehicle in front of them and nearly clipping the front bumper of the vehicle in the other lane they are sliding in front of.

Just today, on the 101 between Cave Creek and 51st Avenue's exits, I counted 4 incidents of needle threading. 

People!  We all have to be somewhere at particular times!  Leave earlier so you don't have to wedge, cut off, or "push" cars along the freeway.

If you leave earlier, you won't have to push the limits of your vehicle, your abilities behind the wheel or the limits of law enforcement's ticket writing abilities (which are nearing a peak).

Steady will get you there faster than jumping in front of one, then slamming on the brakes for the next.

One more thing....when you flash your lights at the vehicle ahead?  If you are riding their bumper that closely, they can't see your headlights anyway.

Sunday night, at approximately 8:45 pm, I was driving North on the westside 101.  The main traffic from both PIR and Cardinal Stadium had passed.  I was driving in the center lane from Indian School to T-bird.  I came up behind a car driving around 55 (in a 65 zone).  I turned on the signal for a move to the left lane, checked my mirrors, it was clear.  I moved into the left lane.  Immediately, a car from nearly a quarter mile back sped up, and rode my bumper.  As soon as it was clear, I moved back to the center lane (with a signal).  This idiot nearly cut me off getting into the center lane with no signal.  She (yes, it was a woman) was on the phone (I could see the glow at her ear).  When I got just past the Grand exit, I moved (again, with a signal) to the right lane.  My cruise control was set at 65 (I had my wife, two kids and a grandkid in the car),  I was passing the car again (phone must have been more important than speed).

Suddenly, this moron-ess cut to the right, nearly clipping my left rear bumper!  I signaled and moved to the exit lane.  She tried to speed up and go around me!  I still had cruise on, and was already into the off-ramp lane.  She moved further right, into the breakdown lane, and sped around me!  Yep.  She was still on the phone.  Yes, I do have her plate number.

She exited east on T-bird, and turned off either at 83rd or 75th as she got behind a truck with a large trailer and I couldn't see her after 83rd.

With the passengers I had, there was no way I was going to "push the limit" and try to cut anyone off.  I remember seeing a post a while back about someone pulling up beside someone to keep them from lane changes.  Idiotic.  I tried to move out of her way and stay out of it, but when I was attempting to move smoothly, she interceded and in my opinion intentionally tried to cause an accident.  She is lucky there was no disabled car in the breakdown lane or a pedestrian there or an ugly crime scene would have ensued.

It is not enough to watch our own driving.  We must watch others as well. 

Be safe.

For years now, I have wondered what could be done about rubberneckers, and other snoopy people who have a sick and demented yearning to see someone else's misery.  On the highways, they are the main cause of secondary collisions.  Why?  They want to slow down and gawk at the misery of the guy who just had a wreck!  Rear end collisions increase and secondary accidents are just waiting to happen.  In Chicago, we called them "Gapers Delays" but there is no set name for them here.

What if the initial officers on the scene and the ambulance and fire crews had compact screens they could quickly erect to block the view from the open lanes of traffic?  Something similar to a couple of collapsable poles and a sheet of vinyl.  If the wreck was larger, the secondary officers and responders could easily connect their screens to the original screen for a wider blockage of view.  Of course, this would have to be done on both sides of the roadway as oncoming traffic is just as curious as the traffic in the side where the accident occurred.

I have had this in my alleged mind for years now, and can't figure out a way to incorperate it into police cars (already laden with protective gear for the officers) or fire trucks (laden with more protective gear) without taking up needed space in those vehicles.

Finally, the MVD has done something worthwhile and attempted to curb the theft of stickers and plates!

I just received my new vehicle registration sticker for the 08 year.  It has my license plate number ON THE STICKER!

Sticker theft should drop now, knowing where the stickers came from and when they don't match the plate, officers should be able to make more meaningful arrests on these scofflaws.

I shall be brief.

They are TURN SIGNALS!!!  Learn how to use them.  Use them regularly.  Use them at intersections!  Use them to change lanes!!  Use the correct signal for the turn you are about to make!!!

Okay.  All better now.

What is it with drivers and stoplights?  I see on a daily basis idiots who sit at stop lights (usually because they didn't speed up enough to make it through in the first 10 seconds of the red light) and wait for the green.  At the first sign of green, they floor it, trying to be half a car length ahead of who ever is beside them.  All because the right lane closes in a block or so, and if they don't floor it now, they will have to let someone in front of them.

People:  First place is only for PIR, the drag races and demolition derbies.  The way you are driving, the latter is what you are turning this valley's streets into.  Take your time, buckle up, keep the kids in their restraint seats, and use what so little of us have anymore.....common sense.  Drive legally and drive safely. 

Unless you have big numbers painted on the side of your car and there is a guy with a checkered flag at the off ramp, this ain't a race.

Wonder what would happen if someone (no, not me) posted license plate numbers of idiots on the roads?  HOV violators, speeders, going from the left lane to the exit in one dive, etc. 

Legal?  Doubtful.  Interesting?  Definitely.

This is a question I will pose to what the youth of today call Califas.  Why do you persist in travelling the entire distance of your journey in the left hand lane?  Are you passing that many people on an interstate with a speed limit of 75 when you are doing 65?  Wait.  You are doing 65 until someone finally passes you in the right hand lane, THEN you do 80 to 85 to catch up and ride the bumper of that person.

Road rage originated in California (most popularly), and I can see why.  Now to be fair, Californians aren't the only abusers of the left lanes, but they are the most conspicuous with their plates. 

Let's get the legislature to get back to work on some traffic laws that are enforceable and sensible.  No tractor-trailer rigs or vehicles with trailers in the #1 and #2 lanes if there are 4 or more lanes total on the roadway.

HOV enforcement.  You know who and what I mean.

Cell phones/distracted drivers.

More speed cameras on freeways and more red light cameras in high-profile areas.

And to close this episode:

USE YOUR TURN SIGNALS!!!

In every other state (of the 47 I have driven in) the on-ramps have yield signs.  Same if there is a closing of a lane for construction, accident or just the end of the lane.  Why is it in Arizona there are so few yield signs?

I fail to see where if you are in a through-lane, you would have to slam on your brakes when someone is driving in a lane that is ending and cuts in front of you with no regard for you and your safety....or theirs.

The same idiot that cuts in front of you on the on-ramp will then dive (literally) to the left hand lane, drive until they get to their exit, then dive off the freeway when the off-ramp lane has a solid white line!

I suppose the cost of education is the supreme factor, as most drivers I have encountered have no clue as to which lane yields to the other lanes, and if they do know, know how to yield!  And no, yield does not mean speed up and cut in front of that car beside you.

Common?  I hope you and the 28-series has a few answers!

Here is an unpopular idea......

Since it is soooo easy to get an Arizona driver's license (all it took for me was to turn over my previous state's license and pay a few bucks), try this on for size.

When transferring from another state to Arizona, the driver in question must take a written Arizona DL exam.

After that, every 5 or 10 years, EVERY driver must pass the written exam to keep their license in force.  You don't pass the test; take another test within 30 days.  If you don't pass the second test, then you must attend driver's education school.  Then take the test again.  After 4 or 5 failures without a pass in between, your license is suspended until you can successfully prove your qualifications to drive in Arizona. 

REMEMBER:  Driving is a PRIVILEDGE, not a right.

A few weeks ago, I seem to recall a story on the HOV lanes here in the Phoenix Metro area.  During this story, a few drivers were interviewed about driving in the HOV lane. 

One of the "courteous" drivers interviewed said he uses the HOV lane all the time when driving alone.  He said he was saving some other drivers a space in the regular traffic lanes. 

The HOV lanes are designated for certain times of day, and it seems that if you want to get somewhere on time, plan accordingly and leave a little early.  Otherwise, obey the laws and drive where you are supposed to! 

Other irritants in the HOV lanes are pick-up trucks with trailers loaded with lawn care equipment.  Blowing leaves, grass clippings and other trash when trucks with trailers shouldn't be in this lane.