Apparently, planets were in alignment

Last Sunday night, driving out of Colfax, headed north, I thought I was in for a close encounter of the worst kind. Before the speed limit even returned to 60, a driver with auxiliary lights in his car’s front bumper got hot on my rear. There were snowflakes visible in my headlight beams, but the road was just wet, so one could drive the speed limit safely. When the posted speed became 60, I moved up to about 62 mph.

That kind of speed wasn’t good enough for the tailgater with the 100,000 candlepower lights, though, as he practiced the now famous NASCAR drafting technique on me. Actually, if he’d edged a bit closer, his brights would have been too close for me to see them. Nevertheless, his pushy proximity added to my stress of driving into the hypnotizing snowflakes. At this point, I thanked the State Department of Transportation for the nice white lines at the right edge of the lane — it was the only way that I could find the roadway.

The next driving peeve showed up in the form of a slow vehicle, operated by a driver whose speed fluctuated from 49-54 mph. After about five miles of this living nightmare (being held up by one, and pushed by another), I passed the multi-speeder in front of me.

Now with me as the leader, though, he sped up to 60-plus and stayed right with me.

Now is when the planets lined up in my favor. When the guy I passed sped up, he kept my original NASCAR partner with the super-driver lights at bay behind him. Even better, the new guy riding my bumper had poorly aimed headlamps that shone only about 2 feet in front of his car. This way, his tailgating wasn’t so bad since his lights were not bothering me, and his vehicle was acting as a blocker between Mr. Power Beam and me.

I just love that planetary alignment. How else can you explain bright lights, varying speed, and misaimed headlamps becoming good things?

I also thought of an e-mail from reader H.I. when I followed that slow driver at fluctuating speeds. H.I. contends that selfishly slow drivers who won’t pull over to let others by on two-laners are the cause of many aggressive or otherwise risky driving behaviors. As I’ve written, enforcement focuses on speed and road rage, but as H.I. suggests, the onus may be on inconsiderate drivers who persist in holding up long lines of traffic, for example.

This same sharp reader/driver reminded me of another good driving tip for driving on the two lane highways: use your headlamps in all conditions. It’s proven to improve your vehicle’s visibility to others.

Just Wondering

Does anyone else think there’s a lack of warning for the lane shift at Ray and Hartson?

Actually, I thought that I saw someone at the City Council meeting a few Mondays ago talking about it. Especially at night, and especially northbound, the requirement to take a 90-degree right turn at Ray comes upon a driver quicker than a popup ad greets an Internet surfer.

A failure to make that right turn has a driver bouncing over a concrete median, and dodging metal poles. One of those metal poles has a sideways “V,” designating a late need to turn, preceded by one yellow diamond sign announcing the winding roadway.

Skid marks, and gouges out of the concrete show that, at least for some, those warnings were not enough. Some flashing yellow lights would certainly make the traffic revision more visible, and make the route safer for those who haven’t pre-checked the road during daylight hours.

Another Revision

Last March, a reader complained to me about the visibility-restricted intersection at 8th and McClellan. I talked with a traffic engineer at that time about it, and the problem was already under consideration. Now, with driver safety as a motive, the City has changed the options at that intersection — you can no longer cut across 8th on McClellan northbound. The inability to see vehicles coming up the hill on 8th Avenue from the stop sign on McClellan created an unsafe situation, with greater than normal accident potential. Good job City!

Agreement Evident

Many readers feel, as I do, that the onramp to I-90 eastbound from U.S. 195 northbound is woefully inadequate. The continuing e-mails and letters assert that. One reader’s idea to make the far right lane of the three lanes coming down the Sunset Hill exclusive for U.S. 195 exit and entrance also has many supporters, especially from those living in the area. Development continues along 195, so the problem will only worsen until fixed.

Slick Roads

You don’t need me to tell you that winter drivers will encounter slick roads, but evidently many of you need a reminder to slow down early for intersections or when making turns — I’ve already personally witnessed several crashes where drivers were going too fast to stop or turn on the snow-laden roads.