GRIDLOCK GURU : Guru puts his noggin to ‘what ifs’
Posted on Friday, September 26, 2008
Guy Pearson of Fayetteville thinks Laura Smith had the right idea when she suggested last week that more knowledge about how to drive might be helpful.
Smith, who lives in Farmington, knew the Arkansas State Police spent federal grant money on advertising to discourage drunken driving and encourage seat-belt use, and she wants advertising on such things as merging into highway traffic and signaling before changing lanes.
Drivers don’t do those things, she said. Pearson said she’s on the right track.
“I have long agreed that the driver license testing and driving system is flawed with a total lack of real-world knowledge,” Pearson writes. “I would like to see the state police add a little real-world driving to the knowledge test.”
The Guru can’t influence what goes on the driving exam or provide money for ads. He can, however, write about the not-so-infrequent “what if” scenarios that he thought would challenge police and other emergency officials to answer. These things aren’t on the prospective driver’s written exam, and they shouldn’t be.
What if: It’s raining hard on Interstate 540 and the only thing visible is taillights on the car driving in front of you. Should you park on the shoulder and wait for the rain to slow ?
Answer: It’s best to take the next exit because the driver behind you may be following your taillights and could plow into your stopped car.
“If it was me, I’d squint my eyes and do what I can to get to the next exit,” state police Capt. Lance King said.
What if: You’ve left the house with a badly injured person, speeding toward a hospital after deciding it’d take too long for an ambulance to arrive. What should you do ?
Answer: Predictably, emergency officials say it’s best to wait for the ambulance, but the “speeding toward the hospital” scenario occurs in Washington County about every two weeks, said Steve Harrison, director of Central Emergency Medical Service in Fayetteville.
Central EMS dispatchers are trained to give advice about how to help a person who’s bleeding, having chest pains and other medical trouble.
“If they are driving down the road, they can’t do anything for them,” Harrison said.
King said it would be wise to call police to tell them about the speeding, but he didn’t like the idea.
“We won’t let them drive like maniacs, even in situations like that,” King said.
What if: An accident miles ahead brings I-540 traffic to a standstill. Is it OK to use the highway shoulder to reach the next exit ? Should drivers try to block other people driving on the shoulder to reach the exit ?
Answer: It’s still against the law to drive on the shoulder.
As for the blockers who prevent others from using the shoulder, The Guru recalls what he heard from Mr. Roadshow, Gary Richards, the traffic columnist for the San Jose Mercury News.
A woman in a jam used the shoulder to reach the next exit and other drivers tried to block her. She didn’t have a phone, and her husband was having chest pain.
“Under those circumstances, she’s doing the right thing,” King said. “People don’t like it when people cheat, and they are always going to think the worst of you.” Robert J. Smith, aka The Guru, writes on traffic issues in Northwest Arkansas each Friday. He can be reached at gridlockguru@arkansasonline. com or www. nwanews. com / gridlockguru
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online