It’s amazing what you can do in a three-row/eight passenger SUV . . . but not many people do it anymore.
This 2020 Kia Telluride I’m test-driving right now (reviewed here) can hustle through the curves faster and with less effort and much more margin than my ’76 Trans-Am. Which is no small thing because in its day, the Trans-Am was the best-handling high-performance car made in America. It was designed for speed; everything else was secondary. The Kia is a family hauler.
But it hauls better.
One hand on the wheel through the esses and not even close to pushing it at speeds that would have the Trans-Am’s rear end slip-sliding and near the break-loose point. Its 15×7 inch BF Goodrich radials as dated as the 8-track in the dashboard.
If something solid – a deer or a slower-moving car – appears in the road ahead of me I might as well turn the 8-track up up (KISS, Destroyer) as apply the brakes, both having about the same effect as far as slowing the car down in time.
That’s how far we’ve come in the intervening nearly 50 years.
But we’ve also gone much farther in the other direction.
People no longer like to drive (much less corner) fast. Or they’re afraid to. Either way, they rarely do so. The Kia is wasted on them. A Corvette is absurd.
The Safety Cult has practically destroyed car culture, but – oddly enough – not cars. Which are much more powerful now than they have ever been. This is an across-the-board truth. Any current family sedan accelerates to 60 faster than almost any ’70s muscle car; runs a quicker quarter mile – and has a much higher top speed.
The family sedan’s brakes (which are four wheel discs) stop the car faster, the tires (which will be 17s or 18s at least and probably rated for 130-plus MPH) are grippier . . . everything is better. And yet, almost everyone goes slower.
Chiefly because they’re terrified of the consequences.
A brutal regime of speed enforcement – of seatbelt enforcement – has supplanted the old regime of reasonableness or at least not-murderousness that used to exist. Guns were rarely drawn on people merely for driving fast.
Today, they’re drawn on people for talking back. Over broken tail-lights.
There have always been radar traps; now there are checkpoints – manned by body armor-wearing stormtroopers trained to regard the wispiest absence of total deference as a “threat” to their Authority.
You used to be able to “get away” with driving fast, most of the time. But now cameras are everywhere. Also automated license plate readers. They’ve got you before you even get there.
80 in a 55 used to be a ticket – and that was it. Sometimes, you could talk your way out of it. You could almost always at least talk it over – on almost equal terms. This will sound unbelievable to those under 30 today but before the sun began to wane in the late ’90s, one generally got out of the car after pulling over and walked over to the cop’s car to discuss the matter.
We weren’t under martial law, then. You had to pull a gun or a knife, at least, before a cop would pull his. It took real effort to get yourself cuffed and stuffed.
Things have, as they say, changed.
Today a pull-over for any reason, even the most trivial and non-moving, can lead to life-ruining and even life-ending consequences. You are at the mercy of armed government workers – there are no cops anymore – who don’t need probable cause to force you out of your car and let themselves into your car. Sure, you can say no – which will delay them for the 10 minutes it takes to summon a four-legged AGW and its handler, who will discover probable cause.
Your rights are to Submit – and Obey.
If they find cash on you – any amount – it’s “forfeit” if the AGWs decide they want it. And good luck getting it back, even if they never give you so much as a ticket.
Even if all you end up with is a ticket, it’s the equivalent, these days, of taking out a payday loan at 32 percent interest – only worse because it’s more than 32 percent interest (factor in the insurance-rape for the next 3-5 years the ticket will be used as the pretext for mulcting you). Coupons, new sales, and great offers of the home improvement stores.
And if you don’t pay up – even if you literally can’t pay up – they’ll do more than ruin your credit.
A Hut! Hut! Hutting! has become a much more realistic threat than angry bedouins.
Best to avoid the pull over.
Thus, people hew to the speed limit, try to blend in. They text and chat and zone out. It’s safer.
People have also been conditioned to fear speed as much as speed enforcement. They accelerate tepidly, usually in a pack – no one pulling ahead. This goes for merging, too. Often, people just stop on the ramp, signal – and expect to be let in.
Traffic creeps along accordingly.
At least two generations now have been taught – it has been hammered into them – that it’s not saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafe to drive the way people used to drive when cars had half the power and a third the capability that cars have now.
Today’s road speeds are about what they were in 1970 but 2020 cars are much safer at those same speeds and if speed limits were adjusted to jibe with the increase in the capability of today’s cars – of cars made since the ’90s – highway speeds today should be closer to 90 than the 70 that’s typical.
Instead, people in the main drive slower today than they did back in 1970 – in cars with angry faces, screwed up with rage but no outlet for it.
It’s akin to bodybuilding. Lots of flexing of muscles not used for much of anything.
More absurd, actually – because they don’t even flex.
. . .
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UK Parliament Committee Wants to Ban All Private Cars and Trucks by 2050.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/08/uk-parliament-committee-wants-to-ban-all-private-cars-and-trucks-by-2050/
Speaking of “pointless flex”, I was in Winchester today in traffic on Hwy 50 in town. Someone was driving a Hellcat Charger. He got into it some and you could hear that super charger whining. All that power and no where to use it. But man, that sound was AWESOME!!!!
Hi Eric,
Your column was written with the presumption that the reader is Caucasian. DWB (Driving While Black), has always been a much more dangerous endeavor. Arguably, things have gotten somewhat * safer * during AGW stops for black motorists since, say, the early 60s, while getting much worse for most everyone else.
It’s perversely moving toward equality – now anyone with a lick of sense and self-preservation gets to be terrified during what used to be routine traffic stops. We’re now all honorary black folks while driving.
Hi Jim,
This is Pravda (truth)… I experienced some myself two summers ago at the hands of a Parkway Stormtrooper. That marked the last time I stop if I have better than 50-50 odds of “getting away” with taking off.
Hi Eric,
If you take off, automatic handcuffs and possible jail time for felonies, assuming you don’t get gunned down for resisting arrest. I’d be reluctant in that situation to do so with a coin flip chance of getting away — more like 95-5 odds in my favor. Which, considering I’m not used to high speed manuvers like I assume you routinely do for your job, and I live in a big metro area, seems like it ain’t even gonna be the case.
I remember reading an insert to “Fast Bikes”, a British bike mag. It was about dealing with the police. In the booklet, they pointed out that, the moment you drop the hammer and go for it, you’ve AUTOMATICALLY RAMPED UP whatever charges you would have gotten if you didn’t. IOW, unless you’re sure you can pull it off, don’t do it. I only did it once when I KNEW I could get away with it.
You must recall Britain is very totalitarian with no protection offered by our first 10 amendments and probably many more. No, they have no 1st thru at least 10th. You can be sent to prison for “offensive speech” and a guy just recently got 5 years in prison for “offensive speech” to the govt.
I realize we’re not far behind but we(today)still have the 2nd that protects the rest. I urge everyone here to spend money to keep the 2nd. I realize too, as a retiree, working his ass off cause SS pays next to nothing…..and I’ve seen many who comment here say same, we don’t have a lot of disposable income. None, in fact, in my case, I just spend and pay the consequences.
If I were to win the Powerball lotto you can better believe I’d spend a lot for keeping our first ten amendments and make sure people like eric and some other I know personally wouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet or living a decent life.
I’ve seen Powerball winners blow every dime and be in debt. It’s stupid and not forming a Class C corporation before cashing that ticket in is just stupidity. It’s one of the egregious payouts for corporations but everyone who can should take advantage of it. And you don’t need a lot of money to make it worthwhile. I already know a joint in Nevada that not only makes it easy but provides the members of the board. I would definitely establish a new address in a state with no income tax and no mandate to give the names of the corporation board. That would require me to have an address other than Texas. Big deal.
Abbot just signed into law the protestation of a pipeline to be a felony. We don’t have far to go to be another Ca. or Massachusetts. After all, it’s Ca. and Masachusetts that have sent millions fleeing to Texas……and only want to change it to where they fled.
It’s like Mexicans and other S. Americans who get into the country. They want to create another country that made them seek freedom somewhere else.
I could name names but quite a few people here would benefit greatly if I won it because I believe in them and they’re all great anarchists.
I’m not so sure that’s always the case Marky. I was cruising along in a 45 zone, and about to accelerate up to 60 once I got over an overpass because the speed limit was 55 mph. When I got up over the bridge I decided to just blow a little carbon out before I got to my parents house about another mile or so up the hill. I pulled into their driveway, and could have pulled into their garage, but didn’t because my dad was right there so I stopped to talk to him. I had gotten off the bike and taken my helmet off, and was in the middle of a conversation when a CHP went flying by, locked up his brakes, burned it in reverse and pulled into the driveway to give me a ticket. It was obvious I wasn’t trying to evade because I had no idea he was even pursuing me. He had lost sight of me which probably could have given me enough to fight it. He just gave me a 5 or 10 over because he could see that I had no clue he was even chasing me.
But THAT is the difference, SVB- you weren’t “evading”.
If the prick had put his lights on, and you had fled, and he gave chae, that’s “evading”- a “crime” in and of itself.
And getting caught has far-reaching consequences.
You WILL be arrested.
You WILL be assaulted (before/while being arrested)
You WILL go to jail.
You WILL have to spend a lot of money on a lawyer.
You can likely say goodbye to your vehicle.
If you cause any damage while running, even if not your fault, say goodbye to your house and other assets (Your insurance will be voided, because “you’re committing a crime”)
You’ll never get insurance again…
You may get killed- even if not by the stinking pigs- but as the result of an accident during the pursuit (Adrenaline; stupid/unaware people; taking big chances, ’cause you know what’s gonna happen if you get caught)
Losing many of your rights, ’cause you’ll be a convicted felon”
And much more….
Once the gulag gets it’s hooks into you, it’s all over. Our main goal while still in the police state, should be to avoid any actions that would cause us to fall into their system.
And the sad thing is, they’d do more to you or I for essentially doing nothing….than they would to a murderer or rapist.
Hey Nunzio, Nah, the difference is that it happened over 30 years ago when highway patrol officers had a significantly different attitude than those on duty today. He did have his lights on, and it didn’t make any difference to me as I wasn’t looking in my rear view mirrors. I doubt if his siren would have mattered either as that bike’s engine was screaming.
Rapping on the throttle of even a stock sport bike like the one I was riding back then had me going well over 120-130 in just seconds. He could have arrested me right then and there.
I’m not so sure he wasn’t convinced I wasn’t evading until he saw me just standing there like an idiot in broad daylight next to my bike. His adrenaline was pumping WAY MORE than mine was while I was hauling ass up that hill.
Back then, I had to be going at least 150 to get even a slight adrenaline rush. I’ve ditched the CHP a few times, but there was no way they were going to be able to catch me. That was 30 years ago. I seldom go more than a few miles over the flow of traffic anymore. I sold my bikes just last year so I’m pretty much done with that. So I will NOT be arrested. I will NOT be assaulted. I will NOT go to jail. I will NOT need a lawyer.
I was in the system for over a decade. I had multiple violations of probation, but that was before one county knew what another county was doing. I actually got a speeding ticket on my way to traffic school one time. Somehow I managed to keep my license through most of that. Until I lost it for a few years, but even then I still managed to drive around without getting popped. If there’s one thing I know how to do well by now, it’s keep a low profile. I know where to keep my hands if I’m pulled over. I know to turn the interior lights on at night and roll the windows down. I know how to get out of a vehicle when asked. I’ll even ask them to hand cuff me for mine and his safety, especially if I see them resting their hands on their guns. I know how to cooperate with law enforcement without giving up my legal rights. I know exactly what to say, and how to say it, so that they know I know my rights without escalating the situation, or getting them worked up into a lather. This is almost exclusively from years of personal experience, not just going through the system, but spending years playing golf with lawyers, and judges. My college room mates are all lawyers now. My dad, and both my uncles as well as my grandfather were all lawyers. So I know the law from both ends of the spectrum. I’ve never bothered to seek legal representation for any of my appearances before a judge, and probably never will.
Rural areas can be worse than urban- at least in urban, if you get a little lead, you can hide. Ditch the vehicle, and just blend-ion with the pedestrians, and you’re good. (At least until ya go home)
Rural areas, there’s often only one road to take; you see a long ways; and there’s usually nowhere to easily hide/you can’t just walk away from your vehicle.
I haven’t had a ticket in over ten years, and yet I still drive pretty fast on the freeway. I’ve noticed that I will instinctively slow down for no apparent reason, only to discover a highway patrol or state trooper a mile or so ahead. It’s uncanny how often this happens. The only explanation I can come up with is that I’ve had enough experience being pulled over that I now know where they’re going to be hiding regardless of whether or not I’ve ever been on that stretch of road before or not.
From what I understand Forfeiture proceedings can be barred because of waivers procured by law enforcement officials who pressure property owners to renounce ownership of their cars, homes, or money in order to avoid facing (often bogus) criminal charges. It seems to me the solution is to simply refuse to sign any waivers, and tell them you’re ready to go to jail. Not exactly a pleasant thought, but if it’s a choice between going to jail and kissing your brand new $75k truck away, it might be a better option, no?
I pretty much drive with Waze on all the time, even when I know where I’m going, so I can get alerted to the presence of AGWs up ahead. It’s like a crowd-sourced radar detector. And the people around me not using Waze get the benefit of observing a fairly aggressive driver who routinely goes 10 over suddenly slowing to the speed limit and driving cautiously, which if they have some miles under their belt should be a big warning to do likewise.
Yeah, my father pointed out the same thing when I was a kid. When someone would go flying past us on the freeway, he’s say, “I’ll just hang back here a ways while he flushes out the cop for us”. I also got the waze app a few years ago, but it seems like people are already slowing down by the time it points out there’s a cop on the side of the road.
I think it’s like I’ve always been. For some reason I “feel” where they are. I have a good amount of prescience, of which I had some control. I see things that haven’t happened but will. It’s never, not a single time, something I wanted to see….other than routing out cops.
I think everyone has this to some ability. I was once sitting at break in a place with outside lines you weren’t supposed to use. WTH, I’m thinking, I need to call my best friend. Worked there for years and never used their long distance.
I called and his GF had just left and had no reason other than they weren’t living to the high style she had been accustomed to. That week-end I was over 300 miles away loading up all his stuff and moving it into my barn and him into my house. Why did I get that feeling? I have no idea. I have other examples but they’re depressing and I don’t need more of that.
I think there’s more to it than fear of the law, people are distracted and complacent, though maybe the complacency comes from that fear of the blue costumed thugs.
Some examples that have nothing to do with cops, that seem to be increasing:
1) We have red light sensors everywhere in CA. You have to park within 2 lengths of the stop line at the light to trigger it. Lots of people leave more than two car lengths between them and the line at stops, and so, the damn things never trigger. Sometimes, you’ll have people three wide, all avoiding the sensors, waiting patiently, forever. WTF?
2) Staring into cell phone while driving. Every stop, visually texting while driving, and driving dangerously as a result.
3) Distraction leading to last minute swerves to make exits, parking spots, whatever, very unpredictable.
Here, most people on the highways are slow, but maybe 10% of them are stupidly fast. The speed differential creates a problem, when the cheetahs go around the cows. This leads to lots of accidents. What makes it even worse are the carpool lanes, since you’ll have the main highway moving at, say, 10mph while carpool lane goes full speed, and people switch lanes into this differential without cosnidering speed.
What I have noticed on my frequent journeys on I35 and I45 in Oklahoma and Texas is that traffic is traveling at 75-80 plus when it’s moving. On a rare occasion, I will have someone pass me when I’m at 85, but that’s pretty rare. Speeds over 100 mph are rare. Today, what I have noticed is that many urban interstates flow better than the rural interstate routes. Rural interstates, due to decades long neglect and underfunding, are approaching capacity at flow conflict points. Traffic speeds are cut drastically to 60 mph and below for long stretches. When the flow conflict is resolved, traffic resumes a normal pace, but is rarely above 75-80. Conditions on our highways are deteriorating rapidly. I don’t believe that situation will improve until states start building toll roads. Traffic fatalities are rising due to the constant hammering and stress of uneven traffic flow. Contrary to conventional wisdom, constant fluctuation in traffic speeds make drivers more tired and likely to doze off when the traffic lets off. The situation is terrible. Add speed enforcement to the mix where people must move over for a cop car, and you have the reason that 5,000 more people are dying on the highways than were in 2011.
Yes, on the highways for sure, but I’m pretty sure the phone is the major culprit in non-interstate driving. I see many, many more head-ons than ever. Off road crashes are increasing a lot around here too. To me, the phone is the reason.
Yeah, I’ve NEVER heard of so many people hitting buildings and other fixed objects (more accurately now: Broken objects!) as I have in the last decade or so. Such “accidents” used to be VERY rare…today they are very common.
You can cruise at 90-95 sometimes on I-20 East of Dallas going into Louisiana.
Yep, same story between on I-10 between El Paso and San Antonio. The posted speed limit is 80, but everyone is going 90-100; especially between the border patrol checkpoint and San Antonio.
It’s one of the only places I can do 90, drink a cold one and not sweat it.
WHAT??!!! There’s still a spot of Texas where America still exists? Quick! Get some refugees from NY CA IL or MA to swoop in and extinguish that!
Nunz, probably wouldn’t be if the DPS could fill the jobs they have open. As it is, we get almost nothing but Hispanics.
There was a time when they were all huge white guys. That wasn’t so bad to be honest. Now we have short little guys with a little man complex.
Several years ago we had one in our county, bad attitude and dealt out maximum everything. He stopped a friend’s mother(late 80’s)for no license plate light, fairly amazing since it was a relatively new vehicle. She was so upset over the way he treated her she bought a new car just so he wouldn’t recognize her.
Regardless of size though, the worst you can get is a State Police aka Game Warden. They have almost unlimited power and in some cases, the power to search buildings without a warrant.
I knew some of these guys from way back. Not a bad bunch at all. That went away with the last crop about 15 years ago.
The old crew: A friend, the wife(no friend ha ha) and I were doing a big 10 or 15 mph down a dirt road and had been dove hunting. Dove were few and far between, to the point I don’t think we even had any. We’d put our guns up and were just drinking the three last cold ones when we spied a green Fury with spotlight coming at us. We’re going so slow he just stopped when we got beside him and we did too.
He’s asking us about hunting. Hunting? we said, not anything to hunt today(one of those bad years). He laughed and said he’d heard that before. He could see we all had a cold one(damn regular cab)so then he asked if he could look in the cooler. No problem we said, we hoped. No birds in it as we’d said but it was incapable of holding even one more beer bottle(I’m one of those when it comes to littering, I just won’t have it). He looked in and surveyed the results.
Well, yall be careful and hope you see some birds next time….and he was gone. He never checked out licenses. Now days, even if no guns are showing, there is no dead game, of anything to be seen except the beers, well, you know the title of that story.
From 30+ years ago, we were hunting dove here at the house(tank right beside it). It was so foggy(unusual for here)you could only see a dove for a fleeting second. We couldn’t even see each other but knew where the other was. We were knocking em dead with em getting that close.
The wife’s in the house(women, go figure)and my best friend, the one who just died, was out at the pumphouse and I was at the corner of the house. Not sure it would have made a damn where you stood it was that foggy.
We here belts on an engine you couldn’t hear. So we ease towards it and see it’s a Game Warden. I had on a ammo belt for spent shells and dove(3 compartments). We had piled our dove in the back of “White Dog”, a 77 Silverado that was sitting in front of the house. He walks over to count our birds and I take my belt off and toss it into the bed with the shells all rattling. We came in just under the limit. So we shoot the shit and he leaves. Then I picked up my “ammo” belt(three bags, one for live rounds, one for dove and one for empties which he heard rattling when I threw it down.
We had another limit in the pouch as did the friend who had some he’d thrown down in the gloom. We could probably have covered it since the wife’s gun was lying on the porch which he asked about and we’d said she had to take a break. He didn’t ask to see her license or her and we showed him our licenses and no need to check the chamber for too many rounds since we both used side by sides and he didn’t even check her 870, probably seen all those relatively new styles at the time and knew they only held 3.
The next day we made sure the gate was closed and locked.
Most years you could hunt with a foul cannon and not make a dent in the perceived amount.
Yesiree, 8, anytime ya see a small man with a badge (or any position of authorteh) WATCH OUT…..even more so than usual. And women…of any size; they’re always out to prove something- like prove to their master that they can make more collars than the “men”; and we-the-sheeple are just numbers on a piece of paper to ’em.
What a pathetic disgusting bunch humanity is, that the most basic thing like hunting would be a matter to be regulated by coercion and violence- and that we live amongst so many monsters, that they would aquit any such regulator if they killed you, and would condemn you to servitaude or death if you defended yourself against their threats and violence and emerged victorious.
As my father said many times in his last couple of years, “This isn’t my country anymore.” I’m not sure that didn’t hasten his demise.
Another thing I’ve noticed is how afraid people are to have their cars stand out. Bright colors like “carousel red” or “sub lime” have become rare, replaced by a sea of beige/bronze/dark anything. Kids cars are no longer identifiable $500 beaters/hot rods, but are new or nearly so Toyotas or mustangs bought by mommy.
I thought I was the only person who noticed that. I’m one of those who doesn’t like for my car to stand out, despite the fact that I would much rather have a bright colored vehicle. With the proliferation of smartphone technology, people take pictures and report to the police any high speed maneuver they see. It is a lot more difficult for cops to find a dark grey something or other car than a lime green model. This makes driving boring.
I’m with you, Swampy!
Although I love to be unique and different; in today’s world, for self-preservation it’s better just to blend in. Driving a unique or uncommon/easily identifiable vehicle is akin to wearing a star of David in Nazi Germany. I long ago nixed the idear of vanity plates…. And I often reconsider if I’d really want to drive a classic these days.
I remember coming out of the grocery store one day, and there is this c. 1980 Olds 98 parked next to me. Cool old boat (And the owner shortly appeared- a lower-class but funky and seemingly nice enough guy- and I remember admiring the car, but thinking: “If anyone ever wants to find that guy, just tell ’em it’s the guy driving the old Olds 98, ’cause that’s the only one of those I’ve ever seen in nearly two decades living here”. Might as well have a GPS tracker and a flashing beacon on the roof.
Kinda like when ya see someone driving a ‘Vette…they’re always going slow, ’cause those cars are porker magnets.
Tell me about it! In addition to my Nissan, I used to have a Mini too. It was bright yellow and glossy black. My buddy nicknamed it “Bumblebee”, while my uncle said I needed an extra battery for the paint job! It was a fun car, especially since I had a stick shift in it. I got pulled over more than I would have liked though. Between the paint job and its personality which begged to be driven aggressively, I got attention from the cops when driving my Mini. I ended up getting rid of it.
Oh, in my area, there’s a guy who has a similar vintage Olds 98. I remember going to a garage sale on that street earlier this summer. I asked the guy if he owned the car. He said no, it was so & so’s; IOW, the guy was known because he had an old boat you don’t see much these days. He may as well put GPS tracking on his car too…
I got rid of the old Nissan earlier this summer. I now have a silver metallic Ford Focus sedan, which is fairly common. While it has different alloy wheels, you can’t tell their shape when moving; as far as anyone is concerned, it’s just another silver colored Ford Focus sedan with alloy wheels. I agree; it’s best to NOT stand out on the road these days…
I drive a Grey Ford Mustang GT convertible and a Gold Lexus ES300. Both are fairly common cars. Both are dull in the color spectrum. They kind of just blend in. I have sailed by cops at 85 mph in both. I decided it’s not what you drive, it’s how you drive it.
Swamp, I have a sport coupe that practically blends in with the pavement. It’s asphalt gray. My SUV is dull silver color as well. I also go sailing past cops at 85 quite regularly when they’re on the side of the road chatting with each other or giving someone else a ticket. I don’t sail past them when they’re going the same direction on the freeway though unless they’re going way slower than the posted speed limit. I keep it 5 to 10 miles above the posted speed limit with no problem then.
SVB, I had a gray F250 that blended in with the pavement….and I never had so many people pull out in front of me; cut me off; and turn in front of me! (Including this dingbat who turned in front of me when I was on the way home from just getting an alignment…causing me to hit a tall curb to avoid her!)
Didn’t have to worry about getting a ticket in that though…it had the 300cid 6cyl and was geared like a tractor!(And rode like one too!)
And rode like one too. That’s one of my main beef’s about Ford pickups.
My neighbor bought a new 19 250 Powerstroke…..lifted. I couldn’t believe it. The first Ford pickup I’d ridden in that didn’t beat you to death, in fact, it was smooth and comfortable. I don’t like the jacked up thing but the rest was fine.
It’s a really nice metallic red(killer color)that you see a lot of out here.
Meanwhile my Z 71 is a rough sumbitch. I complained to a guy with a shop. He said “Rough? That’s the reason you buy a Chevy isn’t it, to get a good ride?”. I guess not, at least for that POS. I’ll be so glad to get Blackie a new body and running again. Just wish Edelbrock hadn’t sold their shock division. Those were the nicest shocks I ever had on anything. Smooth like an old Caddy but instantly hard and firm and even caused it to not lean in curves. Like having a big roll bar in front.
Ah, 8, that old rough-riding F250 was a special case; It was a 2×4 with what looked like a home-made body lift and 33″ tires. Maybe the springs were beefed-up a little too. And the horrible NY roads didn’t help either.
I’m not normally one to complain about ride- especially with trucks. I like ’em to feel like a truck- but that F250 was redonkulous- it was like it had no suspension at all!
The ’99 and up Ford Super-doodies ride really nice for trucks- but I’d imagine that as time has progressed, that ride has probably gotten stiffer, as such seems to be the custom- I know my old 92 Town Car rode like a cloud. A neighbor who had a ’96 ended up buying mine, because the ride on his 96 wasn’t as nice….seems even the Ling-colons gfot progressively stiffer as time went on. There ain’t no cars today that ride like the big “personal luxury” boats of the 70’s…. (That’s fine with me though- those super-soft suspensions were ridiculous!)
There has been a period of cars all in the beige spectrum. Colors cost extra
My car is Race Red. I got a $400 discount from Ford for ordering that color. Come and get me, kwops!
Blame buying off the lot too. Dealers don’t want to have to sell a vehicle, they’d rather sell financing. Flashy colors aren’t going to get the +700 credit score folks in the door so grey/black/white/burgundy is what comes off the trailer.
People no longer like to drive fast? hmmm, guess you don’t hit the interstates, or even side streets in a Florida city or a place like Houston. When traffic allows 90 is a the norm for probably 40% of the vehicles, and in Florida there is zero enforcement, none.
Of course, that is also why pedestrians are killed more in Florida than any other state. Side street postings of 34, 45 etc are just a suggestion. Add 20 to 30 to those too.
Pedestrians are killed in Florida more than any other state because the weather is sunny and warm year round, which encourages people to be out walking. I lived in Orlando, FL for 10 years and didn’t notice people driving 20 over the speed limit. In fact, on interstates, they have become annoyingly slow with speeds around 65-70 most of the time. Even in rural areas, speeds haven’t increased at all. If there is a danger to pedestrians, it is due to the lack of outward visibility in modern cars. Due to blind spots, people cannot react to things that they can’t see. That’s the reason for the uptick in pedestrian fatalities.
I live in PA wherein if you’re not going at least eighty on any interstate you’ll get rammed from behind or even shot by a CCW carrier. Drove from the Philly are to Pittsburgh recently and never saw a single State trooper.
I can’t speak for other states’ traffic enforcement but PA seems to recognize the huge improvement in vehicle performance and the reality that fast-moving traffic actually reduces traffic density by reducng transit time.
No, they realize that the penalties for speeding are way out of line with reality. I remember getting ticketed for 20 over on a two lane road (wasn’t checking my mirrors, basically punched it with the cop right behind me). 4 points on the license, huge fine. Another speeding ticket would have suspended my license. Last time I was back east I rode the Turnpike and was being passed like I was standing still in a construction zone, doing 10 over the normal PSL.
Compare that to Colorado, where you should always go to court and try to plea bargain. But even if you don’t, it’s $250 or so and a point on the license. Usually if you fight it you’ll get the points waived and fine reduced. Last time I got nabbed I left the court after about an hour of my time and a $50 fine (of course they still got me on an extra $35 for court costs).
so you as a safety control freak want speed limits at 30 MPH. did you ever think that more people hit by cars there BECAUSE THERE ARE MILLIONS MORE PEOPLE THERE THEN A FEW YEARS AGO? Fla is rapidly becoming a multi cult shithole
Yeah. Florida passed it’s sweetspot about 15 years ago. Just enough cultural “diversity” (read, hot women) to make life fun and interesting, but not too much of the gang banging crap going on. It has, no doubt gotten worse.
The fact too that there are a disproportionate number of slow, unaware old people in FL- both as pedestrians and drivers, probably has something to do with the high pedestrian-plinking. Not to mention that the state is largely comprised of rude entitled ex-NYers now -like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWbwjtYCOrs
I’ve lived all over the country, and in Florida for the last ten years. I haven’t noticed anything all that different from anywhere else. What I have noticed is something akin to what predators do. A lion will walk with their tail up in the air to let the herd they usually stalk know that they’re not hungry. State troopers seem to do the same thing. They’ll be cruising along at 90 mph on the freeway, and everyone behind them is cruising right along at the same speed. Then they pull off to the side, and everyone just keeps humming along at 90 in the 70; they’re just shooting fish in a barrel.
Last time I came out of Houston on 10 it was a Saturday and I was pulling a trailer with Blackie. People were whizzing around me left and right and I was doing 75 and eventually drove 85 just to be closer to the speed of nearly every vehicle out there. It was fairly much that way all the way to San Antonio(little Mexico) where traffic slows to a crawl. Amazing that in Mexico, traffic moves really fast on the road but take those same people, put them in Texas and they can barely creep down the road. I don’t get it.
Thankfully we can still do reasonable speeds on Florida highways. Just be careful and mindful of the speed limit in small towns like where I live. For the most part the posted speeds are 65 or 70 and the de facto speed limits is 14-19 mph above that.
That said, people still drive like Eric described and merging onto the interstate while the big rigs in the right lane are doing 75 or higher is really dangerous with clovers around everywhere.
When shopping for a used car last week (bought a 2013 Ford Focus with a 5 speed manual to get the most out of its 160 ponies) I refused to look at anything that didn’t have enough torque to adequately accelerate. You have to be able to change speeds up and down quickly on Florida highways because of the dangerous mix of those who don’t know the rules and those that do.
Speed doesn’t kill…. difference in speed does. This is the first car I’ve owned in over ten years that doesn’t have at least 230 HP. Thankfully, Ford geared the manual properly for acceleration. If I have to give up a few MPG to keep up with traffic at 85 on I-75, so be it. Gas is cheap.
I drive to Florida every year and the traffic is moving on the highway
Yup… for the most part (with the exception of a couple of counties) the speed limit is 89 on the interstates where it’s posted as 70. Stay under 85 in Alachua and St. Lucie Counties… these are the two I know of that are loaded with FHP.
Reason? The county government gets the revenue from the ticket where it was issued. both of these counties are run by commies who want all your money.
“Speed doesn’t kill…. difference in speed does.”
Yup. And where it’s still 65 and believe it or not 55 in many places I drive, the differential is the killer, literally. Because there will always be those who won’t go over, and 55mph with the non-clovers doing 70+ is bad.
In my observation over the past few years, here in the North-east, mid-atlantic, we get clovers that won’t get out of the left lane, ever……….. so you have to go around, and it is just a recipe for trouble. And the sad (funny?) part is all get backed up in the left lanes, and the slow trucker lanes are empty, so we use those. It’s all bad…………….
Really bad news is I even caught my younger daughter doing it!!! And she knows how to drive better than her peers. I put a stop to that, but it’s just a problem that seems to be getting far worse.
Those left lane clovers 100% have NY or NJ plates on. Just a numbers game from a huge metro area traveling into the ‘sticks’ as they call it.
It’s everywhere down here as well and it makes the roads thoroughly unsafe. My daughter is 13 and she gets a regular litany from me about the terrible habits people have and what not to do when she gets behind the wheel in a couple of years.
I tell her all the time the most dangerous thing you’ll likely do in your life is merge onto an interstate in Florida. 🙂
For a little while, you could get away with almost anything in Florida. I used to routinely drive at 100 mph on I-10 between Lake city and Pensacola, slowing for Tallahassee and Milton, which is a long time speed trap town. Speeding on I-75 is nearly impossible due to the fact that drivers spread out three lanes wide, not letting you through. Driving South of Melbourne, you can get a pretty good lick on I-95.
I have a 2014 hatchback equipped the same way. $15K new and loaded. I love it.
Wow. Where to begin? I’m with you on the draconian fines/punishment regarding tickets. Also on the “militarifcation” of cops. Soooooo, sometime you’re better off running.
Couple weeks ago I was zipping along the multi lane interstate, and making my way thru the traffic. I’m just over 80, as traffic was about 70. I’ll pass left or right, I don’t care! So, I come up to this car and ask, “Do I pass left or right? Left *is* wide open, but there might be a cop there”. In light of all that, I still passed left. Damn sure, a cop was right there. Now, 80mph is a biiiig deal in Virginia, so terrori$$ing thoughts went through my mind. It was as night, so when I passed him, I stared in my mirror to see if he’s coming out. Sure enough, I saw his brake lights come on and the blip of the reverse lights as he put it in Drive. But thankfully, an exit was about 12 seconds away, and I had about a 10 second drop on the cop. I have NO DOUBT he was coming after me. So, and uplanned exit later, and looping back onto the freeway, I resumed my trip home.
MAN DID THAT FEEL GOOD!!!
Good for you. So, what I am reading is that you exited the freeway, waited for him to pass and then got back on?
Yes: I bailed on the exit b/c it just so happened to be right there. If not, I would have been toast, and not tried to elude. Lots of things were in my favor: being nighttime was huge, there were no/little streetlights as that portion is under construction, there were a few cars with me along the road to obscure my exit. Essentially, *everything* was in place for me to pull this stunt. When I got back on the freeway, I poked along in the right lane for the next few miles.
Still plenty of speeders where I live and travel between 2 states. In the city, you have cameras at nearly every major intersection with a traffic signal. It’s become the great quest for money to pay mainly for government pensions on the local and state level. Many cities of all sizes are going broke. Along with the hunt for taxes, it is getting more and more insane. And it will continue to do so until the economic system implodes.
While today’s cars are better equipped to handle higher speeds and stopping/handling emergencies…however, many roads have not kept up. Hitting a particular discrepancy in the road at 70-90 mph is a lot different than at 40-50 mph.
Back in 2014, I got my first ticket since 1978 and not only did it cost for the ticket, my insurance rates went way up for 3 years. It was like getting 10 tickets over 3 years. The fun of driving faster is not worth the cost if some cop decides to make your day. I have heard of them stopping people and handing out fake tickets. As in charging you with something you weren’t doing. Most people will pay them because the cost to fight them is more than the ticket. This is where socialism has taken us.
It’s all revenue generation. They are more worried about collecting $ for their department, pension, etc than catching criminals. Its so easy when they ignore easily catchable crimes like breaking and stealing from a car when you have video evidence and the license plate#, like we did here at work. But they will arrest and taser you over a broken tail light and even shoot you over a broken tail light like they did in Minnesota here.The victim was a law abiding citizen with a permit to carry.
cops are the biggest single budget item of any village town county state
Living in Australia, the land of the scameras aplenty, I thought this type of driving was confined to Australia. Now you Americans are complaining also. At a time when cars are more powerful, safer, and more fun to drive the speeds are lower than horse carriage days. It’s gotten so bad I can take the train and bus to work in the same time while reading a book most of the time. Just got too much to put up with the lousy weasels on the road that drive ever so slowly and dangerously, and spend time on their mobiles because the speeds are so low. Saves a lot of wear and tear on my 2000 Statesman. Somehow as I’ve gotten older, mid 60s now, I want to drive ever faster and use my car’s potential to the fullest. Wishing I had a V8 instead of a V6.
drivers suing city say NYPD is padding overtime pay with bogus DWI arrests
Bronx drivers suing city say NYPD is padding overtime pay with bogus DWI arrests
By ROCCO PARASCANDOLA
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
AUG 25, 2019 | 8:52 PM
Bronx drivers suing city say NYPD is padding overtime pay with bogus DWI arrests
NYPD police officer Darryl Schwartz is pictured in an undated photo. (Facebook)
A Legal Aid Society analysis of DWI arrests by a veteran Bronx cop with a lengthy disciplinary history shows that a large number have ended without a conviction for drunken driving, leading to allegations he has perfected the art of “collars for dollars” — making busts to pad his overtime pay, the Daily News has learned.
The cop, Det. Darryl Schwartz, was named in a recently settled lawsuit against the city by a driver claiming Schwartz purposely accused him of drunk driving. Two other men have lawsuits pending, and another is planning to sue, the men’s lawyers told The News.
Schwartz, 46, was recently put on desk duty, but for an unrelated infraction — raising questions about whether the NYPD was even aware of the allegations surrounding his DWI arrests.
Lawyer Andrew Laufer said Schwartz’s tactics were on full display when he busted Manuel Gil in December 2015 and accused him of driving drunk — even though Gil several times registered a 0.0 when Schwartz administered a Breathalyzer test.
Schwarz told Gil that he was being arrested “because you’re an idiot,” according to court papers, and that he believed Gil was purposely not blowing directly in the machine’s tube. Gil, then 25, insisted he had not been drinking.
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After seven court appearances over seven months, a judge ultimately dismissed the charges against Gil, who earlier this year sued the city in a lawsuit naming Schwartz and settled for $85,000.
“It was a completely trumped-up charge against him,” said Laufer, who filed the lawsuit. “In my opinion, it seems like this was an overtime scam. He’s done this a number of times.
“He charges people with DWI, they’re not guilty of anything, but he makes overtime.”
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According to data compiled by the Legal Aid Society, Schwartz is among the top overtime earners in the department, making at least $41,000 in extra cash in each of the four fiscal years ending June 30, 2018. That’s more than at least 97% of all cops during that time period.
Schwartz has testified to taking part in about 500 DWI arrests, 350 or so in which he was credited with the arrest.
Legal Aid recently looked at every DWI arrest of its clients made by Schwartz and found that of 37 such cases, 30 have been adjudicated. Sixteen of those ended in DWI plea deals. But the remaining 14, or 47%, did not.
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One case went to trial and ended in an acquittal. Charges were dismissed or never pursued by prosecutors in seven other cases, and in the other six cases the suspect pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, disorderly conduct, or received a traffic ticket.
That near 50% rate, said Legal Aid Society lawyer Willoughby Jenett, who did the analysis, is an indication there were problems with the arrests, especially those ending with the charges being dismissed.
Legal Aid lawyer Willoughby Jenett outside Bronx Supreme Court.
Legal Aid lawyer Willoughby Jenett outside Bronx Supreme Court. (Gregg Vigliotti/for New York Daily News)
“That just doesn’t happen with solid DWI cases,” Jenett said. “[Officers] smell alcohol. The suspects blow and register a blood alcohol content. The evidence is there. These cases do not get dismissed.
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“It’s just not a common outcome,” Jenett added.
The 46-year-old Schwartz, who joined the NYPD in 2003, was transferred from the 46th Precinct and is now on modified duty, working a desk job with no gun and shield at the Criminal Justice Bureau following a March incident in which he and another officer left a loaded gun in their patrol car.
Meanwhile, two other drivers busted by Schwartz, but cleared despite positive Breathalyzer results, have pending lawsuits.
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In September 2016, Daniel Feliz Parra, 23, had parked his car and was walking away when Schwartz approached, then had him get back in his car and start the engine before he accused him of driving drunk, according to his civil lawyer, Jonathan Roberts. The Bronx District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute Feliz Parra, a kitchen supplies salesman.
Later that month, Alfred Cowan, 43, was asleep in his car when Schwartz tapped on the window and arrested him. Roberts, who also represents Cowan, a process server, said he had “no intention to operate a motor vehicle.”
From left, lawyer Jonathan Roberts and his clients Silver Martinez-Ramirez, 47, Alfred Cowan, 43 and Daniel Feliz Parra. The three have pending lawsuits against NYPD cop Darryl Schwartz, who they said arrested them on bad DWI charges.
From left, lawyer Jonathan Roberts and his clients Silver Martinez-Ramirez, 47, Alfred Cowan, 43 and Daniel Feliz Parra. The three have pending lawsuits against NYPD cop Darryl Schwartz, who they said arrested them on bad DWI charges. (Gregg Vigliotti/for New York Daily News)
Roberts, of the law firm Talkin, Muccigrosso & Roberts, said Schwartz’ tactics hurt the reputations of the cops who gain the public’s trust by doing things the right way.
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“Officers like Schwartz shatter that trust by preying on innocent, hard-working citizens of the Bronx for the sake of a few extra dollars in overtime,” Roberts said.
Roberts also represents a third driver, Silver Martinez Ramirez, 47, who plans to file a suit following his acquittal on DWI charges.
Martinez Ramirez, a maintenance worker, was pulled over for a broken light in February 2018 and registered a .092 on a Breathalyzer, according to Jenett, who represented him at trial, and court papers. But it was clear the jury had problems with Schwartz’s testimony, Jenett said.
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“Officers like Schwartz shouldn’t be tolerated,” Jenett said. “But it’s more troubling that the Bronx District Attorney’s Office still prosecutes New Yorkers unfortunate enough to have crossed his path.”
The DA’s office wouldn’t answer any questions about Schwartz.
Schwartz, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, has a number of blemishes on his record. In 2013, he was transferred for cause to the 46th Precinct from Manhattan North Narcotics, a desired assignment. The NYPD would not say why.
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He was also cited for an accidental discharge of his gun, got caught not reporting an incident in which his now ex-girlfriend accused him of striking her, and he struck a pedestrian while driving home from a 2011 holiday party, according to court papers and NYPD documents.
The NYPD did not answer questions about Schwartz’s DWI arrests or his disciplinary record. It also noted that the $85,000 settlement to Manuel Gil “is not indicative of wrongdoing.”
Wow, Eric! This article was sobering in many ways!
Yeah….I already knew that the average fambly sedan today can blow away the great old musckle[-Popeye] cars that we love [But they sure can’t come close to the road feel; transmitting the atmosphere, the smells and sounds, etc. nor the simplicity of design, and the styling!]
And yeah….we are already aware of the pig problem…
But yet, it wasctually read it; both things in one place, juxtaposed…..
It’s an automotive analogy of the encapsulation of the times!
[Clears throat]: “But yet, it was actually just so sobering to read it”…
[Damn no-edit Turdpress!]
My record is that I shouldn’t speed, yet the Hemi in my Rebel doesn’t like being under 75 in a 65, unless I see an AGW or my radar picks up X, Ka or Lazer
Also, where I live, the affluent drive Germans like they’re Honda’s and Toyota’s, badge snobs who get the best versions and then drive them like they’re 90’s econocars that you’d have to floor to actually go decently fast with.
It’s because of this that offroading is picking up though, as there are less penalities for taking your Jeep or whatever on trails than your Muscle and sports cars past 80
Seems no one’s going to mention the elephant in the room, so I guess I’ll do it again…
Non-drivers. Sure, modern cars can corner hard, but any road which is worth driving on for its own sake is likely to be at least half-blind in the day and worse at night. So it’s kind of hard to exploit that when you have to worry about NoEngine McIHaveARight dawdling down the side of the road at 20 MPH… or worse, jogging toward you at 10… or even worse, walking down the middle of the lane without a care in the world!
But apparently it’s selfish and reckless to complain about this, somehow.
Although I will grant that this is probably not why most people go slow; because I still see scrubbed-off shoulder lines everywhere so most people likely don’t even think about bicycles (which makes it doubly stupid to ride one on a narrow road or at night anyway).
It doesn’t help that most police departments in small towns and suburbs have become increasingly dependent on revenue from traffic enforcement. As school districts have been taking an increasing larger bite of the property taxes, police have to look elsewhere.
A little history lesson that most people have forgotten. Until the late 1960’s- early 1970’s most small town and suburban police departments employed relatively few people. In the case of the town I live in, it was basically two full time marshall’s and a handful of part timers in a town of 27,000. Also the pay was pretty low, relative to the private sector. The police station was a room at town hall, yes, a single room. So the cost was pretty affordable to taxpayers, cheap actually. In talking with the old timers in town, those two marshalls rarely wrote traffic tickets largely because they had better things to do (like solving thefts, vandalism and burglaries).
In contrast with today, we have forty full time police officers and another fifteen or so “support” people. Most probably spend their days writing traffic tickets, as our town is known as a speed trap. The police station is a newly built $10 million+ building. They are resisting the idea that the town hall be moved into the building as well (there is plenty of room). The payroll is enormous compared with the 1960’s with fifty plus compared with a handful back then, at a much higher rate of pay to boot (starting salary in the 40’s). This is on top of the fact that the town has 2,000 fewer residents than the 1960’s.
They like to point out that the crime rate has finally returned to the very low early 1960’s rates. I only got a shrug and a “it was a different time” from the assistant police chef, when I pointed out that that same low rate was gotten with only four people back then. And the 1960s crew had a better closing rate (solved crimes) too. Hmmmmmmm
I live in a cow town in S.W. Wisconsin. Pop: 4421. We have 3 Ford Explorer Battle Cruisers. 5 full time officers! All wear body armor under black BDU’s. 9mm & 2 extra magazines. Each loaded with Federal Hydra-Shok(tm) rounds. 2 sets of cuffs. Pepper Spray. Tazer, & expandable steel baton. Buzz cut, bloused boots & mirror shades. They look ready to jump into Afghanistan. I didn’t carry that much shit in the ‘Nam. Being the County seat we are also the headquarters of the Sheriffs Dept. 5 Battle Cruisers & 8 Officers. Same gear. We are told it is to combat the “Drug Problem”. All I EVER see is “Speed Zone” & Radar stops…
You can thank The War On Terror™ for all the extra firepower. The Patriot Act poured billions of free dollars into local police departments to amp up their armories and force multipliers. Because we all know that Bin Laden wanted nothing more than to destroy some BLM office out in the middle of nowhere.
Your post brings to mind a recent trip on PA 611, which runs along the Delaware River. It’s a curvy road, so it can be fun to drive. I had my Focus out, and I wanted to enjoy it; that’s one reason I got the car-it’s fun to drive. I got stuck behind late model Chevy Impala. Though not a “driver’s car”, it was similar to my old Nissan Altima; I knew it was capable of taking the curves securely and competently. It was being driven like a 1950s car with bald, bias ply tires and worn drum brakes! The guy was going slow when there was no NEED to! I was like, FFS, MOVE IT! His car would have done a lot more than he asked of it, I’ll put it that way. I didn’t get to enjoy my Focus very much that day… 🙁 I’m glad I’m not the only one noticing this…
In BC we get Albertans. I think their plates are red lettered to serve as a warning to other drivers.
Seems they are afraid of curves from years spent driving in absolutely straight lines and making only 90 degree turns at intersections. Check Google Maps, the place is a grid. Sweeping curves scare them, which is problematic in the BC mountains and foothills.
Standard scenario, catch up to a red plate as they will drop to 20-30kph under the speed limit as they approach a mild bend in the highway without even a yellow speed warning sign. Not backroads or secondaries, main single lane highways marked at 100kph. As soon as the road is straight or there are two lanes for passing, the hammer it to 20-30kph over the speed limit, making passing difficult if not impossible.
The ones in RVs are even worse. 65-75kmh on 100kmh straight roads and they brake to 50 for the fucking corners. 20+ cars stacked behind them and they refuse to use the pullouts.
I have a free accident without rate penalty available because I have never had and accident in 40+years. Tempted to have an ‘accident’ with one of these idiots.
I think Albertans drive so badly because of the speed cameras. I grew up in Alberta and it wasn’t like that when I was young. We drove fast. But I went back recently and I couldn’t believe how slow everyone was driving. Then I was informed that there are speed cameras everywhere that send out tickets automatically. Fortunately for me, they apparently don’t send tickets to speeders with Nevada plates. If they did, I’d have a mailbox full of them by now.
The same thing happens in Alaska. Motorhomes, especially out-of-state motorhomes are the bane of everyone’s existence. A local cartoonist once even got himself in hot water with the Good Sam Club for “attacking” RV drivers. Here’s a strip he made on them, no longer remember if it’s related to that incident:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/eb/b8/ae/ebb8aeffc49955c6e18845fa2fbaeebf.jpg
But I guess that’s what happens when you try to replace industry with “tourism”.
I grew up in Anchorage, can confirm this 100% true. The highway south of town headed for the Kenai penensula. I also love how ppl jam up traffic for miles to look at a mountain goat.
I’ve driven that highway before, for work mind but it was still the time of my life. Such beautiful scenery, and I didn’t see a single cop or non-driver the entire way. Too bad the only remaining curvy section goes straight through the middle of a town with houses everywhere. Kind of a fun road headed east out of Homer towards Fritz Creek too, but it goes through farm country with just enough houses to be sketchy.
jeez I just read that whole thing with a Canadian accent in my head, eh?
What accent? 🙂
We have several. Stoned effeminate LGBT west to Screech hoarse Newfie with several in between. Don’t forget the Frenchies.
Our ambassadors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssCZWBtwUTI
My uncle lived most of his life in the flatlands of the US Midwest. He drove out to visit us in Aspen when I lived there. Unfortunately he stayed in Vail because that’s where he could get a timeshare. The nav system took him up thorough Leadville and over Independence Pass. It took him all day to make a 2 hour drive and when they finally did arrive all I heard was the tale of how dangerous the road was, and why would anyone want to live here?
Funny, I took that same route a few times a year just because it is so much fun, saves time and quite scenic. Unless I got stuck behind a flatlander.
ahhh, the road that I will remember forever. Reminds me of a funny story. I was young and traveled 611 between Easton and the Philly suburbs a lot. Had a beater ’71 Nova and decided one day to whip it up, very late at night, and one of the curves bit me. I was sliding backwards towards the river and I thought I was going in……..
Right before the splash, I hit a tree and it literally bounced me back towards the road, whew….. On my way.
About 5+miles later, and through the City of Easton, got pulled over in college hill thinking I was in big trouble. Two cops cars showed up, yup I’m in deep. I was dressed nice for a wedding I was coming back from. The two cops proceeded to look over the beater car for a while. A few questions later, they let me go…………..hmmmm…………..
I pulled into my driveway and couldn’t believe what I saw….I was towing a 20ft+ long tree from the rear bumper! Roots, leaves and all. The cops never said a thing. I’m guessing they tell that story as well.
Sorry, your story cracked me up! I can easily picture that happening on 611… 🙂
It was funny. What would they have given me a ticket for? Guess they couldn’t come up with anything. Those old chrome bumpers were awesome. Today the bumper ‘cover’ would be smashed in.
I still can’t figure out how, as I was going backwards, I hit a tree that deflected me back towards the road AND unrooted another tree that somehow got hooked in my bumper? Guess so………….
Even funnier was the crown of the tree with the leaves was pretty big, I just couldn’t see it at night in the mirrors. I wonder what people stopped at lights in Easton were thinking? haha………….
Was before cell phones, probably would be on youtube today. “look at this idiot” haha
Probably figured you were hauling firewood a little late that night.
After all Chris, you’d just gone out to gather a bit of late night firewood.
Technology marching on, bureaucracy frozen in time.
Oh no…! The Bureaucracy never is frozen – it grows and grows like a fungus in a damp basement. Remember THe Blob with Steve McQueen?
Sure, it grows, but never changes. Once the rules are in place, they are written in granite. The Bible is more open to change than the Federal Registry.
RK, the Bible has two versions being a source with a version for whatever ails ya.