View from the cop: Crime & punishment
View from the Cop is moving to a new site on Wordpress. Blogger Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department gives his take on crime, offers safety tips and give his weekly picks from the police blotter. Follow Steve Rose to the new blog site.
AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2006 > October > 17 > Entry
Rainy day driving me crazy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We have not had a good rain in weeks. It’s good for the grass and the lake, the fishes, and the plants. It’s good for all the natural things in this world. Cars and asphalt are not natural things. Rain is not good for them. Take that and add less than stellar, I mean lousy, driving and you have—well let’s just say “Welcome to Atlanta.�
I’ve lived here since General Sherman first joined AARP and the people scoffed at the idea of a designated hitter in baseball. (Good times.)
Back then, Atlanta was known as The City Too Busy To Hate. Now it’s known as: The City With Drivers Too Busy To Pay Attention To The Road Because They’re Screwing Around With The CD Player And Cell Phone And Forgot That It’s Raining And Their Car Doesn’t Stop On A Dime….or something like that.
My drive-time is around an hour on a good day. Today was not one of them. My drive time was just under two hours. I have come to live with that. I resigned myself to the fact that I have to occupy my time paying attention to the road. It doesn’t help that the drive-time radio play lists are really short. (If I hear “Tequila Sunrise� one more time I’m climbing the crane.)
As I hit the road this morning I knew in my heart that I was at the mercy of whomever was behind me in traffic and I sincerely hoped they would be in the ten-percentile of drivers who were actually competent. For a while it was okay. I hit the back roads where you have a better chance of hitting a deer than another car. I passed the time counting dead possums, victims of poor pedestrian education, lying here and there on the roadway.
Eventually you have to surface on a main roadway. My surfacing point was Hwy 9 between Alpharetta and Roswell where the local ordinances require residential communities to use the fancy version of words such as “Pointe� or “Waff-Ell Hause�
If you’ve ever been in an accident, you know that in some cases you see it coming just long enough to give you the pucker factor. The sound of tires screeching, horns blaring, and in case you had your window down, the sound of someone behind you yelling “Oh Sh—� are a prelude to the crunch sound. For some reason, every time that happens to me I immediately wonder how I’ll look in a neck brace.
Well, I actually got into Roswell before the law of averages almost caught up with me. The guy ahead of me suddenly decided he needed to pull into the car wash so he gave me about a second or two of notice that he intended to do something like wash his car in the rain. I had plenty of time so I hit the brakes and like we all do, glanced in the rear-view mirror.
Based on what I saw coming at me, I immediately pictured what I would look like in a neck brace, puckered all over, and then forced my head back against the headrest to lessen the whiplash. What I saw in my mirror were two headlights getting too close, too fast. The front end of the car approaching me dipped as the driver suddenly hit the brakes. Here he came. I waited for the crunch but for whatever reason it never came. He must have stopped only inches from my bumper because I couldn’t see his headlights. It was still dark so I really couldn’t see his face but I think he puckered pretty well because I don’t think brakes make that kind of noise.
There we sat, dead in traffic, puckering and all, for a couple of seconds. I eased back up to the 15 MPH flow of traffic. I had dodged the traffic bullet.
I cursed the car ahead of me for suddenly making a turn and I cursed the guy behind me for almost hitting my pretty black police car, and I cursed the developers for building all these houses north of the city knowing all those people were going to get on the highway at the same time. And I cursed those people buying those houses and then not telecommuting. I cursed the traffic lights which somehow knew I was frustrated and as a result, conspired to turn yellow at every intersection I approached. I cursed the lady next to me in traffic, with her giant hair rollers. She had no right to scare me.
In short, I vented to myself, in my car, all in about 30 seconds. I felt better for a few seconds until I realized a sobering thought: I still have to drive home.
It was right about then “Tequila Sunrise� began to play for the third time this morning. Where’s a crane when you need one.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By dee
October 17, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this
very entertaining story! i share your pain.
By Nick
October 17, 2006 12:12 PM | Link to this
When is Atlanta going to face it’s problem of traffic congestion? Besides law enforcement and other preventative measures, it’s the only government ‘service’ I use day in and day out and it annoys me to no end.
By James
October 17, 2006 12:18 PM | Link to this
Great story…. but serves you right stuck in traffic. You have no one to blame for your crappy commute but yourself.
If you insist on working in civilization, you should live in civilization…. not out in the boonies.
Why is it always the idiots that live out in the burbs the ones gripping about the commute?
YOU chose to live there… shut up and deal with the hell you put yourself in.
There are ONLY two other solutions: 1) move closer to work. 2) find a job closer to home.
By kt
October 17, 2006 12:26 PM | Link to this
My commute this morning was a little longer than usual because of the rain..coming up 285 east approaching 400 a car decides to jump in front of me (with no signal) I had to slam on breaks & didnt even have time to check the rear-view (like you did) luckily whoever was behind me stopped too, then the car that pulled in front of me got back into the same lane he just came from 2 seconds ago. What was the point?!
By Michael
October 17, 2006 12:29 PM | Link to this
Rain is good for the auto body shops and personal injury lawyers.
By Nascha
October 17, 2006 12:51 PM | Link to this
Would you like some cheese and crackers with your “whine”?
By Michelle
October 17, 2006 12:55 PM | Link to this
It’s good to know that the idiot that pulled out in front of me on 10th this morning has lots of cousins and that others could feel my pain!
By Thomas
October 17, 2006 1:40 PM | Link to this
I walked to work today. I had to jump a puddle, but otherwise no real complications for me this morning.
With the money that I save from not having to pay for a car, maintenance and the such, I am planning a vacation for Europe soon.
Without traffic though my life has been so uncomplicated that I do not even feel as though I need a vacation. You folks need to move closer to work for your own sanity.
By angela
October 17, 2006 2:08 PM | Link to this
Driving in Atlanta traffic is seldom easy! As a matter of fact whenever it rains in Atlanta anyone who owns a car and never drives it takes to the road!
By BurbHater
October 17, 2006 2:56 PM | Link to this
First of all, you should pay attention to James and either move or get another job. He’s right about all you suburbanites wanting three square acres, and then complaining about the traffic. The government should fix the mistake you made! Y’all 400/85/75 junkies have a sense of entitlement that makes a welfare queen look modest.
But hey, good story.
And vaguely related to the car that slammed on the brakes in front of you—why are Atlanta drivers allergic to missing a road, driveway, etc. and then turning around? I’ve seen idiots stopped dead in a travel lane of a five-lane highway, cars approaching them at 60+ mph, because they aren’t in the left turn lane. And why don’t these fools ever get a ticket?
By Cindy
October 17, 2006 2:59 PM | Link to this
Poor Steve.
Shut up James.
That’s pretty good Thomas.
By the way Steve, be glad it wasn’t snow.
By Danny
October 17, 2006 3:13 PM | Link to this
Nick, I’m so glad those are the only govt services you use daily. I guess you don’t eat, so the FDA is wasting their time. I guess you don’t take medication of any sort, again a waste of the entire FDA. The restaurants that you trust to make you a meal in a healthy environment don’t have to answer to the health inspectors, huh? The terrorists that aren’t blasting away at your behind are lacking courtesy of Homeland Security. But that’s security and you did include them. Every single day we use oodles of govt programs to better our lives. It’s not even close to perfect but it’s the best we’ve got.
BTW - Steve, awesome article…as usual.
By Des
October 17, 2006 3:17 PM | Link to this
Okay, James, get over yourself.
For those of us who work in the public sector, actually helping people, we hardly make enough to eat and buy shampoo, much less make enough to pay rent to live in a safe place in the city…so thus, the necessary burden we must bear: the commute.
Get out of your fishbowl,James, thank the cop who is protecting the city streets so that YOU can live IN the city, and move on with life. Try looking at another’s perspective for once, it may actually be quite refreshing.
By Nparry
October 17, 2006 3:24 PM | Link to this
I was the victim of a female cellphone killer on I-85 and N Druid Hills today! She stopped for no reason and I hydro-planed and stopped just inches from her, the car behind me hydroplaned and veered in the HOV lane and the pickup behind that car came and rammed into my car!! No damage done and I was late for work. End of story. A miserable city for drivers!
By Marie
October 17, 2006 3:29 PM | Link to this
You’re a cop. Why didn’t you ticket that moron? You probably would have made everyone feel better. Or maybe you should have ticketed yourself for following a car too closely.
And is it really worth it to live outside the city? I know that I could have bought a huge house in the suburbs for the same price I paid for my tiny little ranch in the city. I value my life and family too much to spend 2 to 4 hours a day driving, instead of spending that time with my family.
By EB
October 17, 2006 3:29 PM | Link to this
Hey James, someone pee in your cornflakes this morning or what??
By Noelle
October 17, 2006 3:43 PM | Link to this
I’m always amused by someone who chooses to live an hour’s drive from work and then complain about traffic. It’s even funnier when such a person then proceeds to curse people who choose to do so.
I just moved back to Atlanta from New Jersey, and I’m temporarily living an hour from work, but only until my apartment 3.5 miles from my office is ready for me to move in this weekend. I’ll be saving more than enough in gas and car maintenance to cover the slightly higher cost of in-town rent. Plus, I’ll also be able to spend more time at home and a lot less behind the wheel!
By Woodie
October 17, 2006 3:46 PM | Link to this
I experience this on Buford Hwy one morning except the fellow didn’t stop. He caused a 5 car pile-on at a stop light. I was car number 3. He turned out to be an illegal alien driving a pimped out Ford Focus without a tag, a license, or insurance. I overheard him explain to the officer that he could not afford insurance. He was not a rich American I guess. He didn’t seem to have an address either. This episode cost me about $700.00 and pretty much ruined my Christmas. Needless to say, I have zero empathy of all the illegal aliens driving up and down Buford Hwy.
By Mikki Hudson
October 17, 2006 3:47 PM | Link to this
I live in the boonies of Covington, after having lived in the Cascade area for 7 years. Believe me when I say if I could afford to buy a home in Atlanta, I most definitely would have! Luckily, I ride one of those marvelous Xpress buses, so I nap on my way into work and on my way to the park and ride. When I get to work, I’m well rested and chipper enough to annoy my fellow co-workers (especially the ones driving in from Cobb and Gwinnett counties). Life is sweet!
By Rickster
October 17, 2006 3:51 PM | Link to this
If all of you guys would slow down, rain or shine, the roads would be a lot safer place to travel. Back off & Slow down!!! That being said, how many of you that have those yellow Please Slow Down signs in your yards return the favor and actually slow down in other peoples neighborhoods? Just asking a simple question.
By Ken
October 17, 2006 4:00 PM | Link to this
Bold:So you were the cop taigating me… I pulled into the carwash to get you off my bumper…2 Car lengths for every 10 MPH right??? not 2 feet in the rain….
Oh and Thomas - If you like walks in the rain how are you with pina coladas???
Hope that song sticks for a lot of you
By What's Her Name
October 17, 2006 4:00 PM | Link to this
For the love of God and all that is holy, PLEASE stop wasting everyone’s time in traffic by stopping to look at an accident. The accident looks the same as every other accident you’ve ever stopped traffic to look at before. A smashed car is a smashed car so MOVE ON! There’s nothing to see here. SOME of us have lives and would like to live them OUTSIDE of our cars. PLEASE just drive by the accidents like your IQ was normal.
By BurbHater
October 17, 2006 4:10 PM | Link to this
If you leave 2 car lengths for every 10mph, those 2 car lengths will be instantly occupied by other drivers. Join reality, okay?
By Woodie
October 17, 2006 4:43 PM | Link to this
You guys are funny. I don’t think tailgaters are hanging out on this blog and getting your messages. Best just to load up your trunk with bricks and wear a soft plastic mouthpiece and head harness.
By Elizabeth
October 17, 2006 4:43 PM | Link to this
I grew up in Atlanta so I know all about how terrible traffic is there. I recently moved to Southern California, and all I can say is appreciate what you have there. The common courtesy of letting people in and out of traffic here is nonexistent, people drive on the interstates like it’s a race track, and being stuff at 10am on a Saturday (or anytime) in dead stop traffic is a usual. I used to think Atlanta was bad, but it doesn’t compare to here. Good luck to all of you that do commute in Atlanta though. You can never be too careful!
By Allison
October 17, 2006 4:44 PM | Link to this
My two biggest pet peeves about Atlanta drivers are their inability to merge onto highways and following too closely. I can’t count how many times I’ve nearly been killed by drivers in front of me who want to merge onto a highway going 20 mph. That’s not merging, that’s causing an accident. And the logic of riding my bumper when there’s several cars in front of me going the same speed is beyond me.
By mrj
October 17, 2006 4:50 PM | Link to this
As I headed East on Roswell Rd from Marietta to Roswell this afternoon in the drizzle, the lady in the black Lincoln Navigator that decided she needed MY lane when I was already occupying that space next to her? The horn was to get your attention to move back to your own lane… not to throw trash out your window and nasty looks at me for alerting you to ALMOST causing an accident. Drive smarter everyone!
By Van
October 17, 2006 4:51 PM | Link to this
I need to ask something. I have normal vision, but when it rains at night I cannot see the striped lines on the road, especially where no reflectors have been installed on the lanes. Some times it is like playing “guess where the lane is” and hope you get it right. This is especially bothersome on major highways like some areas of 285! Of course I slow down but don’t tell that to the other people who are playing speed racer in the dark with all of the glare and the rain. Why can’t they install reflectors on all roads? Why can’t they develop some type of reflective paint that stands out in the rain? How many accidents are caused each year by poorly marked roads? Can’t the D.O.T be held accountable in some cases?
By shaun
October 17, 2006 4:58 PM | Link to this
there are a few reasons I live in the boonies and drive an hour to work. I get paid enough money but not enough to live near my job. I was born and raised in the city and there was always traffic even on the weekend. I love the boonies you don’t have to hear sirens every five minutes. I may have to pay just a little more in gas every week but when I get home its very peaceful and quiet. I would take that any day.
By BurbHater
October 17, 2006 5:04 PM | Link to this
Well, thanks Shaun. You enjoy the peace and quiet of the ER with your asthmatic kid when the smog levels get astronomical.
By ace driscoll
October 17, 2006 5:14 PM | Link to this
if i could afford to move to the city ( inside 285) i would , if public trans did not take 2.5 hrs per 1 way commute, i would take that - telecommuting is not an option in my business .. i am 55 yrs old and my dream would be to bicycle to work daily , even ( especially) on days like this ..
By Pamela
October 17, 2006 5:18 PM | Link to this
I lived in the city near my job, in two different houses. Near I-285 @ Bolton Rd and Near I-20 @ Glenwood Ave. At each area of my house there were murders, drug dealers, burglaries, foot traffic and moochers. You can’t have everything so I chose to live out here and I accept my drive and my safe, quiet and drug-free area.
By Stephen B
October 17, 2006 5:23 PM | Link to this
Knowing Lt Rose like I do, he did get a job closer to home, but it still didn’t stop him from commuting every day. The only other option is to retire like I did. Now when I get out, unless it’s for a doctor’s appt or something…it’s in the middle of the day with all the soccor moms & “normal” idiots. Funny tho’, when I get out on my “scooter”, I always wear my “retired” firearm on my belt. That keeps the crazy idiots off of me too !!!
By BurbHater
October 17, 2006 5:41 PM | Link to this
Look, unless some of you burb drones start asking your state legislators for public transit, you’ll never get it. Don’t sit out there and whine about MARTA not going to where it needs to go, or about how shoddy the system is. It’s shoddy because all the OTP people want to use it, but let DeKalb and Fulton pay for the system. Like I said….entitlement that would shame a welfare queen.
And heaven knows, there are no murders or meth labs in say, Hall or Fayette county. Ask the folk in Gwinnett how that moving out to the country to escape crime and traffic works.
By Laura
October 17, 2006 5:46 PM | Link to this
Steve, I sympathize with you about the idiotic drivers, especially when it’s raining! I live 40 miles away from where I work so I feel your pain and aggravation! I also get ticked off at the idiots talking on their cell phones while driving on the expressway, especially during morning rush hour!
There should be a law making it illegal to talk on the cellphone during the hours of 6:00-9:00 in the morning, and 4:00 - 7:00 in the evening!! Violators should be locked up!! HANG UP AND DRIVE PEOPLE!!!!
By Mark Glazer
October 17, 2006 9:46 PM | Link to this
104.7 The Fish. No Tequilla Sunrise, just a better commute.
By beegee
October 18, 2006 7:46 AM | Link to this
5 years ago I moved to PA.. 28 mile commute is now 30 minutes… all back roads and pretty farm land.. Grew up in Atlanta, but moved away after population and the requisite number of morons on the road reached epidemic proportions. Sorry guys, love your city, but won’t tolerate your congestion and traffic.. Atlanta seems doomed to self destruct with out of control growth.
By Bob
October 18, 2006 8:27 AM | Link to this
Steve - When was the last time that YOU or ANYONE on your team actually ticketed a driver for not having their headlights on in the rain? I don’t mean AFTER the accident…. I mean for that infraction alone????? I have counted - since it’s something to do as one is traveling at 15 miles an hour on the side streets during the rain - and it is about one in six who do NOT have headlights on while their wipers are moving. This is a DANGEROUS way to drive…. (oh, yeah, the officer would have to get wet to write the ticket so I guess I may have answered my own question here……)
By Blog Dawg
October 18, 2006 9:03 AM | Link to this
Much Better!! You surprised, you had a callback. great finish. still a little long, and it did bog down in the middle. Always delete any traffic jam like slowing down of the pace.
But wow!!
I suppose if they played “Tequila Sunrise” and “Margaritaville” back to back, you could fail a breath test, should you be unlucky enough to run into your wife (in curlers) on the road. “Do I smell whiskey?” (no, honeypot dear, they played “thunder road” on the radio). “YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT HORSH*T? YOU ARE SO BUSTED, MISTER MAN.”
The local ordinances that turn hillbillies into rennaisance men simply by requiring fancy names for the subdivisions are funny. “The Wilkeshires at East Worthington”……it’s a trailer park with stucco.
Ever seen a trailer advertised with “Two and a half baths?” the half bath is a broom closet with a spitoon and a bedpan.
You are advancing rapidly toward that masterpiece. You, sir, are a writer.
Paragraph four could be just one sentence. Or even a couple of well-struck phrases. Condense. Always condense.
You expect far too much of your fellow blogganese, Kapelmeister. They cant read four sentences, you gave them dozens. Remember that your audience has an attention span of twenty seconds, unless you refresh, like a computer screen does, the imagination. Humor is a good refresher, or you can make the narrative so compelling that they simply have to pay attention because they are so engrossed.
By BurbHater
October 18, 2006 9:39 AM | Link to this
Wow, Bob, you must have been counting headlight-users on a good day. Yesterday I swear the cars with lights on were in the minority.
By Bill
October 18, 2006 10:57 AM | Link to this
Hey Steve, I only have to drive my pretty, black police car a mile to get to work. No worries!
By Jeffrey
October 18, 2006 12:22 PM | Link to this
Yeah I rememeber those horrible commutes, for five years I commuted form Calhoun to north Atlanta. Now I have a wonderful 21 mile 18 minute commute(only 4 blocks of city traffic) from Calhoun to Rome. AND I mke 12 K more. Life is GOOD!!!!
By Mark in Atlanta
October 18, 2006 2:25 PM | Link to this
I used to make the commute from Acworth to Downtown Atlanta. Now I drive from one edge of Sandy Springs to the other (I don’t live in it, but just outside it). I don’t miss the commute.
By Job
October 18, 2006 5:14 PM | Link to this
Sometimes it not about choice. I interviewed and was hired by a company five miles from my home (previous job was eight miles, neither required freeway usage). After I accepted the offer and quit my previous job I was informed the new company would be moving 18 miles away and I would have to use 400N to get there.
Since then I have lost 180 lbs., I drink three liters of pepto a day, I have lost 99% of my hair, and I have the mouth of a United States Marine.
By Az
October 19, 2006 2:02 AM | Link to this
There’s another choice ya know.
Do what I do. Work at night. 9pm to 7am. At night, no traffic to speak of. In the morning, I’m heading the opposite direction of all you daywalkers…
-Az
By ITP Commuter
October 19, 2006 2:00 PM | Link to this
As a commuter who used to drive 3 hours a day in traffic round-trip from Villa Rica to downtown, I agree with those saying move closer to work. I moved 3 miles from work. I am paying a mortgage that is equal to my rent in VILLA RICA! I understand wanting land but I will take my less than 1 acre lot any day over my 3 hour hour commute. It’s good to live close. It gives you mental clarity and you don’t have road rage. I know that no matter how bad traffic is I will be home in 30 minutes.
By Aunt Bea
October 19, 2006 5:53 PM | Link to this
30 minutes to go 3 miles? What do you drive, a ‘73 Plymouth Belvedere?
Bwa.
By ITP Commuter
October 20, 2006 8:40 AM | Link to this
Ever been stuck in downtown traffic when there is a Brave’s game, a concert, or just typical Friday traffic….sometimes it can take 30 minutes to go three miles.
By Job
October 20, 2006 12:33 PM | Link to this
I would just like to extend a big THANK YOU to the moron in the blue pick up with the large sawhorse in the bed. Thank you for slowing to look at the wreck on the OPPOSITE side of the freeway. It was a car, a few ambulances, a few police cars. Evidently he’s never seen any of those before.
License plate withheld since this probably wouldn’t get posted.
By Sell Strudel
October 23, 2006 9:41 AM | Link to this
They say that traffic is slowed down by one car tapping it’s brake lights and that it effects cars 250 miles behind it.
Why are there traffic jams? I googled that question. I found out that traffic is very sensitive. Did you know that one driver who has constipation and maybe lingered in the gas station restroom for a couple of extra minutes can start a rube goldberg chain reaction series of events that can clog our traffic arteries and bring all traffic to a complete standstill for sixteen hours? The remedy, which happens naturally, is for six other drivers to eat bad breakfast burritos, which speeds things up in there, and, with an exact 6 to 1 ratio of constipated drivers to Montezuma’s Revenge drivers, traffic starts to move again, and we get the flow patterns we now see.
So, in conclusion, we simply need more fiber in our diet, and everything will be fine.
By JET
October 23, 2006 2:38 PM | Link to this
I have a commute based on my employer choosing to relocate our office 60 miles from home, YEARS of service with good benefits BUT a house on the market for sale along with three million others within 2 miles leaves me in the car until things do work out to reduce the commute. Some don’t have choices, that doesn’t mean the incompetent people he refers to gives them the right to plow us down while on the cell phone, picking their nose or curling their hair. Amen to the article, it was hysterical. Let me know when you find the crane, I’ll meet you there!