Posted on 07/20/2011 7:47:43 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
WOODSTOCK -- The last few days have been busy for Shenandoah County emergency personnel on Interstate 81.
Or, as some people may feel, it's been like old times.
Four notable crashes in a 10-mile stretch since Thursday afternoon -- there were two that day, one on Friday and a tractor-trailer overturned Tuesday morning -- may have been the most in such a short period of time since the Virginia Department of Transportation raised the posted speed limit throughout most of the jurisdiction to 70 mph last the fall. Official crash data, though, is not yet available for the past few months, although for all of 2010, there were 29 fewer crashes in the county than a year earlier, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
The DMV does not track road-specific crash data.
However, speed is not necessarily always the culprit. On Friday and Tuesday, for example, it appeared to be driver fatigue, said Sgt. F.L. "Les" Tyler, a state police spokesman. Felton L. Joseph, 59, of Pearland, Texas, was charged with reckless driving on Tuesday after overturning his tractor-trailer hauling tea on the right shoulder at southbound mile marker 284. There were no injuries.
Based on what local officials have observed, after roughly nine months with the new speed limit, nobody appears to have found a reason yet to change their original impression on 70 mph.
"I don't think there is any good evidence that the interstate is more dangerous now than it was before or even that actual speeds have increased at all," said Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, who favored the move. "VDOT made the determination about which areas could safely support the speed limit increase, and I think we should wait and see additional data from them before we jump to any conclusions."
Shenandoah County Fire Chief Gary Yew said he has always thought the increase was a mistake. He is concerned about public safety, particularly in peak travel times, such as the current summer vacation period.
"The more serious crashes over the years, they certainly have been attributed to speed," Yew said. "I can't help but think it compounds our problems."
VDOT spokeswoman Sandy Myers said her agency is waiting to collect data for a three-year period before reviewing the effectiveness of the speed limit change. She echoes Gilbert in stating that it's too early to make any conclusions.
The data, when available, may not matter for some people. William Pence, president of Appalachian Freight Carriers in Edinburg, said 65 mph is fast enough for truckers, so the hike to 70 mph did not sit well with him. Drivers in his company, though, are directed to set their speed at 67 mph, which conserves fuel.
"And that's fast enough for trucks," Pence said.
He said too many crashes involve truck drivers speeding and following too closely, and that was before they were granted the opportunity to travel faster.
"Any rear-end collision involving our drivers," Pence said, "they're outta here."
The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution opposing the increase last year. District 1 representative Dick Neese said his opinion hasn't changed and his concern for I-81 is so great that whenever he must make a Harrisonburg-to-Strasburg trip, he takes U.S. 11.
"I got stopped in [a crash backup] one time," Neese said. "I said there's no way I'm going to let this happen again."
I remember back in 1985, I was over in Ohio seeing family and my cousin had an ‘85 300Z Turbo. I remember driving it on the highway and felt great doing 110 mph ! That would have been a real big ticket from the OSHP if I got caught !
> A few years later I drove a Datsun 240Z. While not as quick in a straight line quarter mile, you could drive 100mph all afternoon feeling very secure.
I remember back in 1979, we were driving back to Indiana from Florida and we were driving through Georgia and I remember my dad was pretty pissed with some left lane hog that refused to move over. He was also running the CB as well and you can hear people on it talking about that car !
A different story, there was a woman who owned lake property next to us, she was a real ***** and widowed. Her late husband was a big executive for GM in Anderson IN and she was his secretary. She got him to divorce his previous wife and married him. She had several kids stay with her each summer and one of them and I were talking. The kid remarked how she would get p*ssed when someone passes her on the highway and how she drove right at 55 mph. This was before cell phones became prevalent but the kid mentioned that she stopped several times at a gas station to report the person to the IN State Police.
One time I was talking with someone and she overheard our conversation and butted in and remarked, “if the speed limit is 55 mph, you damn well better do 55 mph or have your license revoked”. She was definitely a busy body and I know from her attitude that she was a “keeper of the low speed” and a LLB.
> Did she have Alabama plates? Seems that every state/region has its own set of driver idiosyncrasies. Some Alabama drivers love to hog the hammer lane, slowly passing cars on their right. As soon as they finish their pass, instead of moving over, they speed up so that the line of frustrated cars behind them cannot get past. Then they slow down again when passing another car.
That was just a snapshot of how a typical LTL freight company operates — many specialized employees working together to provide fast efficient service. It was not uncommon for shippers to choose to ship small UPS-shippable items with us at a higher fee because they knew that they could call in a pickup in southern California in the afternoon and have it delivered in Arizona the next day.
Yeah but to continue to provide dependable service you can't have your people working 24 hour days. You want them to show up and work every day, day after day. 70 hour weeks were not uncommon but that would be over five days, not 3!
That’s true. Five or six days and sometimes seven.
Liberals hate efficient highways and privately owned vehicles. First, they hate private ownership of cars, truck, Harleys and guns in general. Second, they want everyone in busses and trains to save energy for mother earth’s sake.
Is that what you would call efficiency?
That's a fair question, but the efficiency of fast truck delivery is not free: it comes at the cost of greatly increased commuting time (reduced productivity, less time spent with families) for every American on a road clogged with truck traffic.
But sooner or later they all wind up in Florida.
Somewhere I read about the productivity of people who work from their homes. I believe it was way above those who had to hurry the kids off to school, shower or shave or put make up on and hurry to work. IMO, this is the kind of thing that we as a society should push for.
Glock, do you know the answer about the productivity of people who work from their homes?
I don’t know what the traffic jams are like where you’re from, but the ones I have seen are predominantly automobiles. The truckers just get caught up in it all.
In my industry, working remotely is far more productive. I can do my work from anywhere that has internet access, and freeway access. It takes a special personality, in my opinion, to become an outstanding performer in the telecommute arena though...
Being the son of a depression era father who demanded and taught a strong work ethic, and being a dyslexic/hyperfocus type of guy, it fits me perfectly. I accomplish easily twice what I can at the office, for the things I do daily. It all depends on the job and its suitability to telecommuting, and the individual. Social gadflies will wither. I don’t have statistics, but it works well for me. The other parts of the job, well, you have to drive, but the paperwork/business/management part is just so much easier if you can finish it at 0-dark-thirty in your pj’s, and/or your mind is in balance, then you mount up and ride when you need to... it adds a big sense of reasonableness and personal accountability to the mix... something missing from most “jobs.”
>>Somewhere I read about the productivity of people who work from their homes. I believe it was way above those who had to hurry the kids off to school, shower or shave or put make up on and hurry to work. IMO, this is the kind of thing that we as a society should push for.<<
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 6:06:16 PM · 131 of 131
glock rocks to B4Ranch
In my industry, working remotely is far more productive. I can do my work from anywhere that has internet access, and freeway access. It takes a special personality, in my opinion, to become an outstanding performer in the telecommute arena though...
Being the son of a depression era father who demanded and taught a strong work ethic, and being a dyslexic/hyperfocus type of guy, it fits me perfectly. I accomplish easily twice what I can at the office, for the things I do daily. It all depends on the job and its suitability to telecommuting, and the individual. Social gadflies will wither. I don’t have statistics, but it works well for me. The other parts of the job, well, you have to drive, but the paperwork/business/management part is just so much easier if you can finish it at 0-dark-thirty in your pj’s, and/or your mind is in balance, then you mount up and ride when you need to... it adds a big sense of reasonableness and personal accountability to the mix... something missing from most “jobs.”
The signs may not say so, but from my time in TX that was pretty close to par. Reminded me of the DC beltway in that a wreck was about the only way to make a cop visible.
As for Maine, on several trips in the mid/upper part of the state I went an hour or more at a time without seeing another car on my side, and very very few on the other. 'Course, the most effective speed deterrent up there for anyone with half a brain is spelled 1,000 lbs of moose.
Welcome to Utah. Cell phones don't appear to take great pics at 80+...
If I recall the story, the driver pulled over and let my friend go by, then he got back in the left lane and next to the truck and slowed back down, blocking 100 or so cars. The semi driver flashed by friend and began to slow down, my friend slowed down to teh bumper of the semi and slowly got behind the Keeper of the speed. Then he hit him again. Message clearly received that time.
I wonder what the KOTS would have thought if the driver had pushed up to 80 or so. LOL
KOTS would end up in a ditch, and you would be on your way.
Actually there are four of them, north of Cedar, north of Beaver. north of Fillmore and at the bottom of the Scipio grade...
Most everyone behaves themselves with the exception of the occasional Cal. dufus that won’t leave the left lane and the odd Subaru...
both my trucks are pushing 600+ hp with 3.08 gears and are a puzzle to the Cal drivers that we aren’t chained to the right lane and capped at 55...
Actually, California drivers are so used to congestion that they actually are aware their cars come equipped with rear-view mirrors. I did an unofficial "study" during this month's 5000 mile driving trip and decided that Arizonans are by far the absolute worst in that regard.
My other big, big peeve was that apparently MY lonely little Honda CRV was the ONLY vehicle that had something called a "Cancel" button on the cruise control when passing slower traffic and trucks. I never, ever saw even one other driver kick it out to pass, even if I (or somebody else moving faster than they) was in plain sight of them......aggravating pisser, fershur.
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