---Calling all daredevils...
---Retired Indy 500 race drivers...
---Those who are suicidal...
---Teen-agers who like to "peel out"...
---Little old ladies with "true grit"...
---Smug car-tune-up guys...
---Anyone with a hot car that goes from 0 to 60 in two seconds...
I have just the challenge for you all! As we continue, it is important for you and my other readers to visualize this dangerous corner, the subject of this post. It is where Gutierrez, running from west to east, meets Eubank running north and south: a "T" intersection. Going East on Gutierrez, you hit your brake at the stop sign and wait for the opportunity to turn right onto Eubank. Cars are whizzing by in front of you.
Here is the "catch" : on your left a hill slopes down to the north, and cars are visible to you only 60 yards away, just as they nose over that hill, going south, doing 45-50 mph. It is difficult to know if the approaching car is somewhat over the speed limit or a lot over. You are just an honest tax-paying citizen, meaning no harm, just wanting to turn; but here you've got an incredibly dangerous decision. Do I Go or Don't Go? (There is a 30 mph speed limit sign at the bottom of the hill; HO!HO!HO! Give me a break--do you think ANYONE is paying any attention to that sign?)
Finally you have to either go, or back up and turn around, which irritates the cars stacked up behind you. You have a split second to act...YOU GO. Now the car coming uphill, violating the law (always speeding) is on your tail within seconds---and you talk about HONK CITY--- you'd think he has a new horn he's proud of. Though he's speeding, he's blaming ME for pulling out in front of him! Not only that, he's making naughty hand gestures at me, and casting aspersions on my ancestry. Friends, who created this scenario? I can tell you, it wasn't the Moriarty Traffic Department!
Many residents, familiar with this corner, and this is true: in the interest of living their three score and ten, just simply don't use this corner.
What is sorely needed at the bottom of the hill is:
(a) A blinking light, and a 15 mph sign, just like a school zone. I am dead serious about that.
(b) A police car, sitting there at least 12/7 with the proverbial pile of peanut shells by the driver's
window (as in the movies)
(c) One of those unused traffic cameras (which I hate) set up there. (We all know they're
coming back anyway, sooner or later.)
Though there might be a hint of humor in this article, make no mistake, this is a serious intersection. If the city were to research this corner, they might say, "Wait, there have been only X accidents there, and Y deaths." Well, if you're one of the Y's, it's about as bad a corner as it gets. Anyway, what about the hundreds of us "nervous wrecks?" Aging before our time...
Hey, you speeders, what part of "30 mph" don't you understand???? Maybe you might understand a speeding ticket!! The limit ought to be 15 mph anyway!
By Mil, 1/25/12
Sent from my iPad
You got it right!!
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