posted June 26, 2008
I move about the city a fair amount in my day to day life and I am really sick of people trying to drive faster than the normal flow of traffic. Where is the traffic enforcement?
Now I'm not talking about the speed limit here. When is the last time you tried to obey the law and do the speed limit between Missionary Ridge and Hamilton Place mall on the interstate? The posted speed is 55. Believe me, nobody is doing less than 65 and most people are pushing 75 or 80.
I am tired of seeing people flying down the highway talking on their cell phones with a child or two strapped in a restraint device. Shouldn't there be some laws against speeding with children in the car? Oh yeah, those are the same speeding laws that are largely ignored by everyone. Perhaps one of our legislative representatives could bring that one up.
Greg Smith
Chattanooga
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I too have to drive from Signal Mountain to East Brainerd during the week. I would say people go at least 75 mph on the average, all the time. They might slow down a few miles per hour for rain.
If you try to drive the 55 mph speed limit, you are harassed by other drivers. Besides the looks and gestures, they cut right in front of you, or tailgate you. You see wrecks all the time where people were following too close. But it’s true if you try to keep distance between you and the car in front, someone cuts in between.
I had one man in a huge pick-up, with four very bright headlights and driving lights on, tailgate me, illuminating the interior of my car, blinding my mirrors, til he could get around me. Once he was able to pass me, he shut his lights off. That tells me it was done on purpose.
I’ve seen drivers cut across three lanes of traffic, in front of semi trucks, to get in the 'fast lane', only to cut back to exit, only two exits later. I’m not in that much of a hurry, that I risk my life.
Let’s not forget the 30 mph driver in the fast lane too, backing up traffic, almost getting rear-ended. Or the cars belching nasty smelling smoke, creeping in thru your vents. How did they pass emissions?
Commercials need to be aired also, explaining what merging into traffic/right of way means, as I have seen people almost get side-swiped by people coming onto the freeway. I have also seen people almost stop to let people on, even though the traffic on the freeway has the right of way, and almost getting rear-ended themselves.
Another word to be explained would be yield, a lot of traffic circles are being put in, and no one knows how to use them.
Getting rid of driver’s education was one of the worst decisions ever made.
D. Brown
Signal Mountain
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I could not agree more. If I had a nickel for every 20-something girl or soccer mom in her living room-sized SUV who has cut me off, pulled out in front of me or slammed on her brakes while making a turn (without a signal, of course) while talking on a cell phone, I would be a rich man.
I read just Thursday of this week that statistics show drivers are four times more likely to be involved in an accident while talking on a cell phone, yet take notice of the police officers you see in our area chatting away on cell phones while they are driving. Is it any wonder there are so many bad drivers who continue to get away with driving dangerously?
Take notice of how many cars have no headlights on even in severe downpours when they can barely be seen, drivers who use no signals at all, drivers running red lights, vehicles moving at 70 mph only a car length or two from the cars in front of them or, my all-time favorite, morons on motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic at 100+ mph.
I do not want a ticket any more than the next guy but it seems that unless you are driving like you are in a NASCAR time trial or you actually hit someone, anything being done to curb dangerous driving around here just is not going to happen.
Joel Walker
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They have machines that do that now.
Mike Dobbs
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Greg Smith has made a very valid point about distracted drivers on our roads. Just this morning on my way into downtown at the I-24 split, I witnessed a lady in a SUV veering off the road into the shoulder heading towards the concrete railing of the bridge that crosses Broad Street. After she was completely out of the driving lane and within a few feet of having a head-on collision with the concrete she aggressively swerved her vehicle across two lanes of traffic causing everyone else to swerve to avoid an accident. As I went around her she was text messaging on her phone.
A National Highway Transportation Study reported that “Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk,” but yet our laws take away a person’s drivers license and provides for jail time for drinking and driving, however there are no penalties for causing an accident if you’re on the cell phone.
Tennessee desperately needs legislation that bans cell phone use while driving. Several other states have taken this step and it is time Tennessee follows the lead to protect our citizens from irresponsible people.
There is no phone call or text message so important that it is worth taking your own or another person’s life. If you have to use the phone or send a text message do the rest of us a favor and pull over.
Dwayne Smith
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My, my, my, my, my ... I certainly hope Richard "We're Gonna Make A Law" Floyd doesn't get wind of this. Next thing we know he'll be spending our tax dollars trying to implement a ban on cell phone use in our vehicles, and will then go for banning them from our business premises.
Wouldn't it be more proper to allow a cop to file a more detailed accident report that included mitigating circumstances and a judge to subsequently tattoo some tushi for recklessness and negligence while driving? Ask any insurance agent what the phrase "contributory negligence" means. We might just discover that there are already statutes in most States addressing this little issue.
I guarantee all it will take is a few instances of a cop including phraseology such as "dude was talking to some cute little chickie on his cell phone as he hit an oil slick, careened across three lanes of traffic cutting off numerous other drivers, slammed into the dividing wall, then bounced back across two lanes of traffic he had just careened across in the other direction before being impacted by a Mayfield ice cream truck that was subsequently struck by an A&W wagon ... and all we needed was some frosted mugs so we could have root beer floats ... subject vehicle left 200 yards of skid marks on the road but said he was not exceeding the 55 mile an hour speed limit, and it's unknown how many yards of skid marks were left in other, too delicate to mention, locations in surrounding vehicles causing occupants to go back home for a change of attire" with a judge taking appropriate measures in the courtroom to ensure such incidents never happen again, and dude pays the tab for his own negligence, we won't have so many incidents of distracted driving.
Smokers, burn 'em if you've got 'em ... before Richard makes that illegal too. I'm going to get the hang of this rolling my own before too much longer. The twisty ends look a bit too suspicious for my liking.
Royce E. Burrage Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
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