And I thought Florida drivers were bad...

Monday I went to Chattanooga for my weekly trip to pick up prescriptions and deposit the XYL's paycheck. The weather was most foul, and as I was heading on I-24 eastbound, the overhead VMS signs warned of an accident ahead. Too late for me to take an alternate route (there is only ONE other alternate route, so I sat in traffic for an hour while the Tennessee Highway Patrol cleared an accident where an eighteen wheeler was blocking all of the eastbound lanes. The THP got one lane cleared, and as I was entering Chattanooga at Moccasin Bend, I saw ANOTHER eighteen wheeler skid sideways and block the westbound lanes. That accident took FIVE HOURS to clear and had traffic backed up for nearly nine miles. Lots of rain and wind, low lying clouds and fog, and now the possibility of tornadoes until morning. Think I'll stay in bed until late tomorrow.

The interstate in Chattanooga is terrible. All it takes is one minor mishap and the whole thing shuts down. If you know of a problem, exit at #175 and head for HWY 27. That will take you to downtown where you can pick up McCallee (sp). You can get anywhere you need to go from there. North, South, or East.

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Originally Posted by NA4BH

The interstate in Chattanooga is terrible. All it takes is one minor mishap and the whole thing shuts down. If you know of a problem, exit at #175 and head for HWY 27. That will take you to downtown where you can pick up McCallee (sp). You can get anywhere you need to go from there. North, South, or East.

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Sounds like the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn.

Tell me about it! Grandpa had to pull over to the shoulder when I was 15 and pass me the wheel because his blood sugar got very low very quickly, while in that area. I was freaking out. First of all grandpa was passing out one me, second of all, where are the exits, on the other damn side! Bleh. I was just on a permit and from a small town where I only had to share the road with the Amish. Got grandpa to a gas station where he got out his insulin and we sat down and ate. All was better. This is when I admitted to grandpa that I was a smoker. He laughed and said, here, have a pack. After that, I wont argue and I wont bitch at you until you calm down. :P

Now, these days that would be nothing. Highways in the US are tame. The EU is freaking scary. Most Europeans tell me that the Spanish are crazy on the roads but that France has worse traffic conditions.

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Originally Posted by KB3LAZ

Tell me about it! Grandpa had to pull over to the shoulder when I was 15 and pass me the wheel because his blood sugar got very low very quickly, while in that area. I was freaking out. First of all grandpa was passing out one me, second of all, where are the exits, on the other damn side! Bleh. I was just on a permit and from a small town where I only had to share the road with the Amish. Got grandpa to a gas station where he got out his insulin and we sat down and ate. All was better. This is when I admitted to grandpa that I was a smoker. He laughed and said, here, have a pack. After that, I wont argue and I wont bitch at you until you calm down. :P

Now, these days that would be nothing. Highways in the US are tame. The EU is freaking scary. Most Europeans tell me that the Spanish are crazy on the roads but that France has worse traffic conditions.

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If he was having low blood sugar attack wouldn't insulin be the last thing he would need ? Sounds more like he would need glucose tablets. Then again I am not a MD so I might be wrong. Good thing you were there to take over the helm and to get him to a place where he could relax and get help.

Trouble with US highways is that during certain hours in the vicinity of major metropolitian regions they transform from "highways" into "parking lots". A popular traffic copter pilot in the NY metro area during the 1960's used to refer to the "Long Island Expressway" (abbrev "LIE") as, "The Big LIE"...

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Originally Posted by n2ize

If he was having low blood sugar attack wouldn't insulin be the last thing he would need ? Sounds more like he would need glucose tablets. Then again I am not a MD so I might be wrong. Good thing you were there to take over the helm and to get him to a place where he could relax and get help.

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Idk what he takes. He has two types of shots. Sometimes his blood sugar is really low and at other times it is very high. There was a time that he did not have to have shots but rather took pills. Now, he has to take shots two or three times a day. Im not sure which. Oddly, if for some reason he does not take his shot, there is no way to predict if his blood sugar will be high or low.

Maybe it was high, not low, idk. All I know is that when he gets that way, he gets dizzy and sleepy. He feels weak and can not do much but go to sleep after his blood sugar is back to normal.

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Originally Posted by KB3LAZ

Idk what he takes. He has two types of shots. Sometimes his blood sugar is really low and at other times it is very high. There was a time that he did not have to have shots but rather took pills. Now, he has to take shots two or three times a day. Im not sure which. Oddly, if for some reason he does not take his shot, there is no way to predict if his blood sugar will be high or low.

Maybe it was high, not low, idk. All I know is that when he gets that way, he gets dizzy and sleepy. He feels weak and can not do much but go to sleep after his blood sugar is back to normal.

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Yeah, diabetes is very hard to manage. This past spring my Mom had to be taken to the hospital in the middle of hte night because she was having a high blood sugar attack. She didn't even know she was diabetic. She also had a stomach virus and one doctor feels that the one condition aggravated the other. She is not taking pills and getting a lot of exercise and is doing much better. her glucose readings are not bad. In any event the doctor opted to give her the pills instead of insulin because he said insulin is hard to control. Too little and the sugar stays high, too much and it goes to low and even the level that is just right may change from day to day. Its a hard disease to manage and get under control.

Richard, as I recall you said you lived in Southern California for a while. I would think you could handle any level of bad driving wherever you went afterwards.

I'd be looking for a cheap two-seat helicopter.

traffic here can be bad. specially when you have thousands of idiots to stupid to put the phone down.

Richard, if you think that was bad, wait until the first snowfall of 1 inch or more!!!!

I wonder if the thing with Florida drivers is that all they know are flat roads and straight lines? A few years ago I was riding with a recent Florida transplant. Still getting used to coming to a stop while going down hill even after 4 months.
Here, we don't even think about sudden changes in elevation, twisty winding curves for miles on end or roads with an extreme tilt in spots where it is needed to stop road puddling.

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Originally Posted by KG4CGC

I wonder if the thing with Florida drivers is that all they know are flat roads and straight lines? A few years ago I was riding with a recent Florida transplant. Still getting used to coming to a stop while going down hill even after 4 months.
Here, we don't even think about sudden changes in elevation, twisty winding curves for miles on end or roads with an extreme tilt in spots where it is needed to stop road puddling.

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Up in the Adirondacks there is no such thing as a "flat road". You are either going up, or down/

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Originally Posted by n2ize

Up in the Adirondacks there is no such thing as a "flat road". You are either going up, or down/

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I have tried to find flats here but even the flat roads are on some kind of incline. Even the interstate that runs through here is on rolling hills.

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Originally Posted by KG4CGC

I have tried to find flats here but even the flat roads are on some kind of incline. Even the interstate that runs through here is on rolling hills.

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Same deal around here--no such thing as flat terrain or a straight road.

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Originally Posted by KJ6BSO

Same deal around here--no such thing as flat terrain or a straight road.

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We have a few plateus here, but they're pretty rare. The only reason the interstate is merely inclined is because they open cut the areas that had hills and bridged the areas that had valleys. Where I'm at, there's nothing but hills. And today, it feels as if I should be building an ark it's raining so hard.

Now, these days that would be nothing. Highways in the US are tame. The EU is freaking scary. Most Europeans tell me that the Spanish are crazy on the roads but that France has worse traffic conditions.

The Mediterranean islands aren't too bad but last time I went to France they were such crazy overtakers that truck drivers having to stop for a queue usually indicated a left turn to prevent any lunatics passing and creating a pileup. As for Italy.......

You'll find the UK crowded with narrow roads but relatively tame even if we drive on the other side.

Anyway I'll be hiring a car north of LA in April to drive up to San Francisco visiting various places en route and ending up meeting relatives. I've motored in various other states but any useful tips for California would be welcome. Back roads for me mostly I think.

Florida drivers ARE bad, but the ones in Washington D.C. and from Jersey make them look very good.

Bad roads? The Gowanus is bad for congestion. It's too busy, handles much more traffic than it was designed for and is in a constant state of repair.

The East River Drive has it's own problems. The lanes continually change in width along the whole lenght of it and in some areas currents from the turbulent East River constantly undermine it. During Tropical Storm Agnes, the northern portion (The Harlem Driveway) was under over 8 feet of water for days at a time. The Taconic Parkway is a challenge with one stretch going from 3 lanes to two and a 14 inch stone wall inches away in two very narrow lanes. Then it goes to 6 lanes in each direction. This section has deer crossing throughout it's lenght. People who are unfamiliar with it usually crash if they drive at night.

Anybody remember the big crash that happened in some fog on I-75, north of Chattanooga? 99 (or more) vehicles, 42 injured, 12 dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOeutjPd6OY

From the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB):

About 9: 10 a.m. on December 11, 1990, a tractor-semitrailer in the southbound
lanes of 1-75 near Calhoun, Tennessee, struck the rear of another tractor-semitrailer
that had slowed because of fog. The uninjured truckdrivers exited their vehicles and
attempted to check for damage.. After the initial collision, an automobile struck the
rear of the second truck and was in turn struck in the rear by another
tractor-semitrailer. Fire ensued and consumed two trucks and the automobile.
Meanwhile, in the northbound lanes of 1-75, an automobile struck the rear of
another automobile that had slowed because of fog.. Then, a pickup truck and two
other automobiles became involved in the chain-reaction rear end collision, No
fatalities, injuries, or fires occurred. Subsequently, 99 vehicles in the northbound
and southbound lanes were involved in multiple-vehicle chain-reaction collisions
that killed 12 people and injured 42 others.

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Originally Posted by KJ6BSO

Richard, as I recall you said you lived in Southern California for a while. I would think you could handle any level of bad driving wherever you went afterwards.

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Yup, I lived in SoCal for two years. The best description I could give for I-24 would be to compare it to I-710, the Long Beach Freeway, which has to be the worst road in Southern California. The difference between California and Tennessee is I-24 is the ONLY road that goes to the roads that lead to the lower half of the Sequatchee Valley (the U.S. 41 bridge that crosses the Tennessee River is being demolished) and the I-24 Tennessee River bridge is the detour) at and then to the roads that goes up the mountain. Unfortunately for me, both accidents happened BEFORE I could get to exit 175 on I-24. At Moccasin Bend, the interstate is squeezed between the Tennessee River and the CSX railroad. It's two lanes in either direction, and you have NOWHERE to exit between Chattanooga and Lookout Valley. So I knew that I would not be going home the way I got to Chattanooga. I had to detour up Lookout Mountain then back down.I think that I-24 was shoehorned in as they could squeeze it in. It can't be widened due to the terrain, and you can't even get from Chattanooga to Sewanee without going through Georgia for four miles. There are too many mountains in the way.

One day I'll take some pictures of the road up to my house. 12 percent grade, no reflective signage, no guardrails. There's another road that is in better shape, but it adds fifteen miles to the trip.

Ah, the joys of country living.

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Originally Posted by WA4TM

Richard, if you think that was bad, wait until the first snowfall of 1 inch or more!!!!

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Four years living in New England, two years of driving to Big Bear in California, and three years of living in Germany, I've got the snowfall driving down. The wife OTOH tells me that when it snows, I'M driving her to work.

If the drivers in Chattanooga are anything like the drivers in Atlanta when it snows, I'm telling her she's taking the day off when the fluff stuff starts to fall.

"Florida drivers ARE bad, but the ones in Washington D.C. and from Jersey make them look very good."

Heh, the battle rages and still no winner, we'll never know through all the finger pointing which is worse, New York or New Jersey. I've not driven upstate but dangerous doesn't quite describe conditions in the boroughs where drivers like nature abhor a vacuum so if you can fit a playing card between you and the car ahead another car will fill the space in a heartbeat. Safe stopping distance? HAH!* Then here at the Snookie Shore as soon as they pass the test the manual goes out the window and cyclists think traffic laws don't apply to them. The bicycle cops lead the way, perfect examples of what NOT to do.

* If I can drive it there
I'll drive it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York

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Originally Posted by kb2vxa

"Florida drivers ARE bad, but the ones in Washington D.C. and from Jersey make them look very good."

Heh, the battle rages and still no winner, we'll never know through all the finger pointing which is worse, New York or New Jersey. I've not driven upstate but dangerous doesn't quite describe conditions in the boroughs where drivers like nature abhor a vacuum so if you can fit a playing card between you and the car ahead another car will fill the space in a heartbeat. Safe stopping distance? HAH!* Then here at the Snookie Shore as soon as they pass the test the manual goes out the window and cyclists think traffic laws don't apply to them. The bicycle cops lead the way, perfect examples of what NOT to do.

* If I can drive it there
I'll drive it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York

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Is Virginia still cutting up NC drivers driver's licenses whenever they pull them over?

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Originally Posted by KG4CGC

Is Virginia still cutting up NC drivers driver's licenses whenever they pull them over?

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They let me go with mine a few times :shifty::dance:

We have lots of crazy drivers down here -- you get used to it. But, the thing that scares me is seeing things such as a whole family riding on the same motorcycle. I see this from time to time.

A few days ago, I saw a father riding a motorcycle with his wife sitting behind him. The wife was holding a baby that was probably less than a month old. Their son, who looked to be about four years old, was seated atop the gas tank. The foursome were traveling down a pot-holed highway. The dad did have his helmet on, however!

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Originally Posted by wb5ydk

We have lots of crazy drivers down here -- you get used to it. But, the thing that scares me is seeing things such as a whole family riding on the same motorcycle. I see this from time to time.

A few days ago, I saw a father riding a motorcycle with his wife sitting behind him. The wife was holding a baby that was probably less than a month old. Their son, who looked to be about four years old, was seated atop the gas tank. The foursome were traveling down a pot-holed highway. The dad did have his helmet on, however!

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I saw a lot of such things like that when I was stationed in Turkey. When I was there the people who were driving were some of the first Turks who actually DROVE a car, as they couldn't afford one until then.

Of course riding public transport wasn't any safer. And you have not known nausea until you have been stuck for hours inside a Turkish bus. If the wild driving didn't make you sick, the concentrated B.O. would.

There was 50 car pile up on I-75 near Sarasota this afternoon.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news..._accident.html

"If the wild driving didn't make you sick, the concentrated B.O. would."

Sounds like the bus I rode to work on... you guessed it... Route 22.

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Originally Posted by kb2vxa

"If the wild driving didn't make you sick, the concentrated B.O. would."

Sounds like the bus I rode to work on... you guessed it... Route 22.

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♫ Get your spew
on route, 22 ♪

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Originally Posted by kb2vxa

"If the wild driving didn't make you sick, the concentrated B.O. would."

Sounds like the bus I rode to work on... you guessed it... Route 22.

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My most memorable mass transportation experience was in Tokyo, aboard the over-packed passenger trains -- standing room only and tightly squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder, front-to-back, by a group of female university students. Oh, the humanity.

Oh yeah, you mean these guys. I suppose SRO with a bunch of college girls is a memorable experience, AND HOW! My most memorable train ride was coming home from Philadelphia in a blizzard SRO with the airports closed. So damn funny the chick sans panties under her miniskirt on the Port Jervis run pales by comparison. Is it just me or have any of you had some shall we say interesting train rides?

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Originally Posted by kb2vxa

Oh yeah, you mean these guys. I suppose SRO with a bunch of college girls is a memorable experience, AND HOW! My most memorable train ride was coming home from Philadelphia in a blizzard SRO with the airports closed. So damn funny the chick sans panties under her miniskirt on the Port Jervis run pales by comparison. Is it just me or have any of you had some shall we say interesting train rides?

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Now I for one would love to hear this tale...

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Originally Posted by W3WN

Now I for one would love to hear this tale...

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With pictures included, of course.

Philly or Port Jervis? Philly was the really funny but much longer one, sorry, I didn't have a camera.