Steve Cook, of the Florida Department of Transportation’s District 7, our district, champions motorcycle riders, whom he said “must sometimes feel that you have a big “Hit Me” sign on your backs,” especially as they ride the “mean streets” of the Tampa Bay area.
“Who among us,” he asks, in a recent newsletter of this district’s Community Traffic Safety Teams, “has not had the coffee-drinking, cell-phone talking, makeup-applying SUV driver ease over into our lane? I was cut off twice on Ulmerton Road just the other day.”
He cites the “Hurt Study,” by H. H. “Bill” Hurt Jr. and other researchers, which says the single most common - and deadly - cause of motorcycle crashes is a vehicle turning left into their path. “If you’ve had this happen, then you know how scary it can be.”
(A good summary of the Hurt Study is available at: http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-Safety/Hurt-study-summary.htm.)
“Who has the responsibility to assure you have a safe ride? It would be nice to believe that the four-wheel vehicle operator will obey the rules, see you, yield the right of properly, etc. [But] too often that’s not the case. Invariably [after a car-motorcycle crash] the car’s driver says: “I didn’t see [him].”
“The cold, hard fact,” Cook wrote, “is that responsibility for your safety rests solely on you.”
To that end, he advises riders who haven’t done it to take the time to get some professional training, which is available for both experienced and novice riders, and is aimed at preparing them for “real-world situations.”
Motorcycle rider courses teach and improve skills such as: effective turning, braking maneuvers, obstacle avoidance and traffic strategies, plus help selecting protective apparel and developing responsible attitudes.
For information on the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles” Florida Rider Training Program, Cook suggests checking out: http://casey.hsmv.state.fl.us/intranet/dd/motorcycles.
For more information on motorcycle safety, he recommends: NHTSA
The view of an accident takes on a different perspective from the front line. You know the front line I’m talking about – it’s the place you’re in when you’re the first car in a line waiting for an intersection signal light to change.
When you’re in that position and an accident happens in the intersection, not only do you get a front-row seat to the demolition, there’s always that part of you that wonders if someone will spin out of control and make you a part of it.
Last week, on my way to our Brandon office just before nine o’clock in the morning, I was in the left-hand turn lane, facing east at the Bloomingdale-Providence intersection when two vans collided about 20 feet from me.
A white work van came off Providence Road at just the same time a red newer-model van hit the intersection headed west on Bloomingdale Avenue.
The white van moved through at the end of a long line of cars that had just passed through the intersection, so I assume his signal had been green and just turned either yellow, or red.
The red van was just leaving the starting gate after the green light came on. Yes, it was her turn, but I’m sure in retrospect the driver of that van would have gladly given up those first few seconds after the light changed to alter the outcome of the event, which was – of course – a collision.
Now I’ve seen plenty of accidents, but something about being pinned in that helpless position at the front of the line, watching the event unfold, gave me a different view.
The white van plowed into the passenger side of the red van – smack – and parts flew everywhere. The next thing I knew a woman jumped out of the red van and pulled open the back doors and was unloading children in the middle of the road.
As the light changed, I had to move through the wreckage to get out of the way of others roaring behind me, but saw over my shoulder that the man in the white van was helping the woman get the children out of the road and had a cell phone to his ear, so I assumed he was calling for help.
I’m telling this story because I know these accidents are happening around us every day. And some, like the one I witnessed, could be avoided with just a moments’ delay.
With our traffic jams, driver’s tempers overheat even faster than their cars and people often stomp on the gas the second they get the chance. In this case, it was before they observed what was going on around them and that caused an accident.
So be careful out there. Traffic around here is really a mess.
If the shoe fits ...
Tod McGinley wrote me an interesting letter this week about a theory he has about some of the accidents he’s seen. One type of accident in particular – where a driver goes through a store window.
It seems he’s seen several of these lately, all with senior drivers behind the wheel, in or around Sun City Center. When our office was in Sun City Center Plaza, I saw several of them, too.
“Usually the person says their accelerator stuck and they lost control,†McGinley said. “But I have always suspected what actually happened is that their foot slipped off the brake and over to the gas pedal.†Armed with this theory, Tod began to ponder how this could happen.
“In thinking about what could cause this, I focused on the possibility the soles of their shoes were slippery, or newly purchased and the driver just doesn’t have the ‘feel’ they should have.â€
Tod admits this has happened to him while wearing men’s dress shoes with leather soles. “I was fortunate enough to avoid landing with my foot on the accelerator,†he said. “But it might be a good thing to tell readers about so they can get a real ‘feel’ for any new footwear they are wearing before they get behind the wheel.â€
So let’s all take Tod’s advice and check the tread on our feet as well as the tread on our tires and we might be able to avoid coming face-to-face with a store window, or worse.
u Send your questions and concerns to me at 3036 College Ave., Ruskin, FL 33570 or e-mail them to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Penny Fletcher is the editor of The Sun and the South Shore News.
Where do you want to go? That’s the question being asked at http://www.Fly2PIE.com , the web site of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport _ with a prize for the lucky respondent.
Leaders of the Pinellas County-owned airport hope to expand scheduled flights and want to use feedback from would-be passengers to help them decide which carriers to woo, and doubtless to bolster their appeals.
They’ll also share it with their existing carriers encouraging them to extend service to additional destinations.
Currently there are only two domestic carriers at the airport, USA3000, and Hooters Air, but Hooters is closing down April 19.
To encourage survey participation, the airport is offering two tickets on USA3000 to anywhere the airline flies to the lucky entrant. It currently offers service to major cities in the Midwest and Northeast.
Surveys are also available at the airport office. Suggestions should be made by April 15.
HART Launches Bus Schedule Improvements, Additional route:
HART recently completed surveys on board all of its new and extended Commuter Express routes.
Based on feedback collected in those surveys, HART is adjusting the schedules of most of its Commuter Express services, along with three local bus routes, beginning Sunday. Many of these adjustments are being made to reflect the actual travel time experienced of each route.
The changes affect the following routes:
Route 46 – Davis Islands/West Brandon
Route 7 – West Tampa/Citrus Park
Route 30 – Town ‘n’ Country
Route 98 – In-Town Trolley (Hyde Park)
Route 20X – Lutz Express
Route 22X – Dover/Brandon Express
Route 23X – Temple Terrace Express
Route 24X – FishHawk/Riverview/MacDill AFB Express
Route 27X – FishHawk/South Brandon Express
Route 28X – Seffner/Dover Express
Route 52LX – New Tampa/University North Limited Express
Route 59LX – Westchase/Town ‘n’ Country Limited Express
Updated maps and schedules are available on the HARTinfo Line (813) 254-4278, or visit the HARTline web site at http://www.hartline.org.
The City of Tampa is perportedly renegotiating its agreement with the St. Pete Times Forum to mandate that promoters negotiate every contract with the city of Tampa as well as the forum, a process that has apparently been somewhat informal to date, officials said after the March 8 gridlock accompanying an 8 a.m. all-day motivational seminar at the forum.
The officials said the city would no longer be allowing morning events downtown because it could not handle the extra traffic.
Some readers are dubious, like Joe Scanlon of Tampa. What of even larger events sought by the city? Should they be banned from downtown? Scheduled only for weekends?
Joe writes:
“I hope to read more about the (March 8) downtown gridlock. What about future Olympics, Republican Conventions, and other high profile affairs sought by some city business leaders?
“That Wednesday was a mockery of our big-city pretensions. (Where’s Ed Turanchik when you need him?)
“I commute daily from Westshore/Beach Park on 275 to the Ashley St exit. On that Wednesday morning as I was stalled by congestion in the right lane on east-bound 275 near the Dale Mabry exit, I saw a big electric portable sign (I didn’t even know about the downtown event) for a shuttle bus to downtown—but the advice was wrong. It said “Stadium,” but the specified exit number was southbound, away from the Stadium.
“And how did those buses fare? Not well I bet, because where were they going to go? Kennedy eastbound, Tampa southbound, etc—everything was gridlocked. Unbelievable for a city seeking metro status. It showed up our downtown transit shortcomings at a time when we’re encouraging residents, lots of ‘em, to move downtown.
‘‘Somebody needs to blow the whistle here. Is it true that the Weds. a.m. gridlock could have been avoided with better pre-planning or is it true that our infrastructure is hopelessly inadequate to handle such events with what’s under construction right now? I fear our infrastructure may be inadequate. When you look around at our city (I love it here and I’m from up north, 25 years ago ), you see subdivision streets that don’t line up, subdivisions without curbs or underground storm sewers, etc., and you wonder what kind of life we’ll have after we finish building all the permitted and planned downtown residential units.
‘‘Who cares about Art Deco facades (actually, I do, but first things first ). Isn’t there some local, knowledgeable traffic expert who can answer questions about what happened to gridlock downtown Tampa that Weds. a.m.?’’
Mr. Barry,
Wouldn’t it be interesting to learn whether the unfortunate death of Road Ranger Donald Bradshaw involved a person talking on a cell phone? And could talking on a cell phone have been the cause of some of the other strange fatal motor vehicle accidents we have had in the area recently?
More and more studies are showing that talking a cell phone while driving is a very dangerous habit. It take so long to transition from auditory stimulus to visual stimulus, to perceive and then react, that more and more motor vehicle accidents are happening for no apparent reason. There is no physical evidence, no evidence of a malfunction and no evidence of physiological impairment, yet suddenly more vehicles are colliding with each other, leaving the road or running into things.
MacDill recently forbade the use of cell phones without hands-free features. Yet even hands-free capabilities do not reduce or eliminate the finite amount of time we humans need to make the transition from talking to seeing.
There is also the tendency for folks to “zone out” or enter another “dimension” when talking on any phone. And what happens when they are on the phone and get angry? Wow, then they are really transported to another place. This can be fatal if they also happen to be driving.
Consider the hazards of driving and talking on a cell phone, any kind of cell phone, even those with Bluetooth or hands free features. I’d suggest Tampa enact an ordinance to forbid talking on cell phone while driving.
Richard Formica,
Retired USAF Safety Officer
Tampa
Well, there’s no indication a cell phone was involved in Bradshaw’s death, and there is no talk of a city ordinance banning their use, but the Florida Highway Patrol and Verizon Wireless have teamed up to push hands-free products and services for those who feel they must converse on the telephone while driving.
And their joint campaign passes on a few newsy tidbits, and a list of safety tips.
One tidbit:
Wireless telephones have proved to be invaluable safety devices, with more than 120,000 wireless 911 calls made each day nationally to police, fire and other emergency services. Many of those potentially life-saving calls are from motorists reporting auto accidents, drunk drivers, medical emergencies, hazardous road conditions, criminal activity and more.
The tips:
* When behind the wheel, driving is the first priority;
* Place calls when stopped or before pulling into traffic. If your phone rings, pull over to a safe area or let passengers or voice mail take calls;
* Use speaker phones, voice-activated dialing services or hands-free devices to keep your eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel;
* Suspend conversations when driving conditions are dangerous or traffic is heavy;
* Never look up phone numbers or take notes while driving;
* Pre-program important and frequently dialed numbers so they can be dialed with a single button; and,
* Dial 911 on your wireless phone in case of traffic accidents, road hazards or other emergencies.
We’ve heard tales from people who’ve called taxicabs in Hillsborough County needing a ride to the grocery store or a ride from an out-of-the-way place—and been turned down by the taxi company, or the taxi just never shows up.
Best guess is the ride is too short or the trip is too long one-way to a suburban or rural place to make the trip pay for the driver or the taxi company.
Has this ever happened to you or anyone you know?
If you rely on taxis to any degree to get to important appointments—at doctor’s offices, clinics or therapy, for example—have you been happy with Hillsborough taxi companies’ reliability, promptness and the drivers’ courtesy and knowledgeability? How about rates: Fair? Too high?
How about limousine services? Have you used them to take you to such appointments? How did that work?
Please let me know with a comment below, or an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you include a telephone number, I’ll probably call you.
Columbus Drive Bridge between Armenia Avenue and North Boulevard will be closed for repairs from 10 p.m. on Tuesday through 6 a.m. Wednesday. Only local traffic will be permitted on Columbus Drive from North Boulevard to the Columbus Drive Bridge and from Howard Avenue to the Columbus Drive Bridge during these hours.
Westbound traffic will be detoured north onto North Boulevard to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, west on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Armenia, and south on Armenia to Columbus Drive. Eastbound traffic will be detoured north on Howard Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, east on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to North Boulevard and south on North Boulevard to Columbus Drive.
—Roy C. LaMotte, Jr., Transportation Manager, City of Tampa
A reader approached me the other day with a question: “When you notice a traffic signal that is out, who should you call to report it?â€
A name we’ve all come to know and love, Larry Coggins, public affairs officer with the Florida Highway Patrol (who should probably share my byline), had the answer. Call the local public works office that handles traffic lights.
In Hillsborough County, the numbers are 622-1940 if within Tampa city limits, 744-5670 if in Hillsborough County outside city limits, and 231-6130, which is a non-emergency dispatch number for all locations.
In Pasco County, the number to call between 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. is (727) 847-8187. During other hours, call (727) 847-8102, which is the fire and rescue non-emergency number.
Coggins added one reminder: When you approach an intersection where the light is out, you must treat the intersection like a four-way stop.
A reader approached me the other day with a question: “When you notice a traffic signal that is out, who should you call to report it?â€
A name we’ve all come to know and love, Larry Coggins, public affairs officer with the Florida Highway Patrol (who should probably share my byline), had the answer. Call the local public works office that handles traffic lights.
In Hillsborough County, the numbers are 622-1940 if within Tampa city limits, 744-5670 if in Hillsborough County outside city limits, and 231-6130, which is a non-emergency dispatch number for all locations.
In Pasco County, the number to call between 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. is (727) 847-8187. During other hours, call (727) 847-8102, which is the fire and rescue non-emergency number.
Coggins added one reminder: When you approach an intersection where the light is out, you must treat the intersection like a four-way stop.
I’ve been addressing a lot of road-resurfacing complaints as of late. I think it’s destined to be an ongoing problem.
This week brings new questions about a cracked-up Cleveland Street, as well as an answer to my inquiry about what’s happening over on Platt Street.
The former comes from reader Elaine Torina, who wrote in to ask if the city plans to remove dips in the center lane of Cleveland between Willow and Howard avenues.
“It is one of the main arteries out of downtown Tampa,†Torina wrote via e-mail. “It appears that the very deep dimples are caused by a worn out and collapsing drainage pipe that runs down the middle of the road. Drivers have to do a lot of swerving to avoid the dimples, which becomes very scary during heavy traffic in the late afternoon.â€
Cleveland was repaved a few years ago, but the problem of uneven surfacing has returned. As of my deadline, I’m still not sure if this project is on the city’s hot list. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.
Moving on to Platt Street, I got a call back from Ken Privette with the city’s Public Works Department after asking about construction through the road’s center lane around Hyde Park Avenue.
Privette explained the sewer department is rehabbing the existing pipeline under Platt. As of March 9., he expected the project to take at least two more weeks.
Scheduling efforts are under way to ensure construction interferes with Bayshore Boulevard traffic as little as possible.
Direct questions to the Public Works Department at 274-8333.
New York City cabbies drive like maniacs. They flow down the street in a frenzy of squealing tires, revving engines and honking horns.
But there is an order to the chaos – like impassioned music or dancing, if you will.
Flowing in and out of the road’s painted lines, the city’s Yellow Medallion cabs signal to each other with beeps and waves. After a few weeks, you notice patterns emerging from what seems an uncontrolled mess.
Here in Tampa, it’s another story altogether.
In my experience so far, I have yet to encounter a cab that didn’t just cut someone off, pull across several lanes to make a last-minute turn or put it in reverse and drive backward down the road.
That last example was the case last night. Coming home from a friend’s house in Ybor Heights, I was rolling innocently down Tampa Street toward downtown when I saw telltale white lights coming at me.
This cab was unabashedly going in the wrong direction, backward, up the street. Giving him wide berth, I got a peek at the situation while passing, shaking my head.
I guess he’d been hailed and was backing up to pick up a fare. Yes, it was late and I was the only car on the road. That doesn’t make it right.
Think I’m uptight? I hope you’ll forgive. I cannot help it. I simply hate seeing this.
And in fairness, cabs are not the only vehicles I see committing such heinous offenses at the hands of their operators.
Let me just say this: If you miss a turn, spot a friend on the sidewalk or whatever, please don’t shift into reverse. Turn right, then right, then right again and find the spot you passed.
My friend calls it “making a block.†I call it safe and common courtesy.
Re: Your invitation “Let’s talk traffic”:
1) If Gov. Bush has so much extra cash in the budget, can we please widen State Route 54, east of I-75 in Wesley Chapel!? Every weekday morning, traffic is backed up from Wesley Chapel to the New River development.
Keep in mind, that in the near future, New River will extend from 54 through to Curley Road. Curley now feeds three schools _ a high school, middle and an elementary school. To the south of 54, Meadow Point has a back entrance and goes through to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. I have heard a second high school and a Wal-Mart Supercenter will be going in behind Applebee’s. Where is the traffic to go!?
2) We need to get over the cameras to catch red light runners. They have been in place and well know in Europe for more than 30 years. I can attest to that, personally. They are very affective at catching speeders in small villages, where speed limits are strictly enforced. As you drive down the road, you see a flash, and in about a week you will get a ticket in the mail, which you are expected to pay, in local tender only, at your local post office (or in my case at the local MP station, which also had a city polizei desk).
3) We might have fewer bottlenecks if we adopt the European rule of “zippering”. There’s even a word for it. Maybe active duty personnel from MacDill could help and will know what I am referring to.
But Tampa drivers are so aggressive, tailgate so often, and do not want to share the road, therefore, it might be a hard practice to enforce. It works like the concept of a zipper, especially when entering interstates from ramps. If every car would leave a a few car lengths between them and the car in front, we could all keep moving and just blend in, like a zipper.
Actually, this is law in Germany. As you accelerated on the entrance ramp, you look to be sure you are clear, put on your turn signal showing your intent to merge (this is a required practice in Germany EVERY time you changed lanes), and the driver behind you will then slow to let you in, expecting you to merge or change lanes. If you don’t change lanes after you have given your intent, he will be upset and show you as he drives on by.
In Tampa, when I use my signal to merge, even when it looks clear, by the time I get on the highway a car will be on my tail or worse, at my side blocking my merging onto the interstate, thereby forcing me to come to a stop or slow, and all the cars behind me on the entrance ramp as well. I see the backups all the way from Wesley Chapel to Tampa: on the 54 ramp, the 56 ramp, Bruce B. Downs, and especially the Bears-to-Busch I-275 stretch.
Do you think the “zipper” practice would ever catch on, without making it a law?
My commute takes 1-1.5 hours Mon.-Fri., unless schools are out. On weekends it takes 35-45 min., but I enjoy my job. My only stress is the drive.
Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts.
—Debbie New
I get so many letters about bad drivers I thought I’d do another column on the subject; even though it hasn’t been quite six weeks since I wrote about the fella I saw driving down State Road 674 juggling a cell phone and a sandwich.
I think when we talk about “bad†drivers, we need to use a little perspective. Oh – I agree with you, there are plenty of them around, and from time-to-time, I get a kick out of describing their antics in this column.
But this week, I want to try and view the situation from a different perspective.
First, we need to remember it’s hard to be a good driver when you’re in the middle of a pack of cars going bumper-to-bumper on potholed, two-lane roads that should have been four-laned before all the new growth hit.
And second, other places have drivers that are much worse, so I thought it would be fun to write about some of the places I’ve driven and invite you to write in with your experiences in other places, as well.
Being an Army dependent in Europe in the 1960s, you’d think I’d say the worst place I’d driven was the German autobahn, but no, actually that was fun. Since there’s no speed limit there, people drive fast but they seem to be concentrating on what they’re doing. Of course, this was in 1965 and I was driving a 1961 Plymouth Valiant then; the kind that had what was called a “California rake†where the front end nearly scraped their road and the tail stuck straight up in the air. I also remember that it had a large spare tire space built so it was visible from the outside, right on top of the trunk area.
My experience on the autobahn in the Valiant I’d bought for $100 from a guy transferring back to the States was that of watching other cars zip by me while I tried to figure out what the signs meant, even though I (like all military dependents overseas) had taken the international driver’s test.
Based on my actions, there are probably still some Germans talking about what terrible drivers Americans are, and I consider myself a safe, defensive driver with a rather impressive record.
I wasn’t scared by the autobahn, although at times, I was confused.
In the Memphis, Tenn., area however, I was terrified. And I’d grown up on the New Jersey coast, where Atlantic City, Philadelphia and New York were only a little ways away. In fact, I can remember popping two wheels of a VW Beetle over the cobblestone curb in Washington Square and leaving it, unlocked, and bailing out without any worry of crime.
But living in West Memphis, Ark., and driving to work over the bridge to Memphis, on the Tennessee side, was a horror. Much worse than Atlanta before the infamous bypass – the one you can circle the city on several times before finding your exit – was built.
In the mid-’70s, I’d have called the Memphis-West Memphis bridge the scariest place in America.
South Shore residents think drivers here are bad now; back when big Buicks and Cadillacs had foot-long tail fins, I’d cross that Memphis bridge in the morning wondering if I’d ever get to see my family again.
We didn’t use cell phones or eat in the car as we rushed from place to place. But speedometers went to 120 mph, and people used every 8-cylinder, black-smoking, tailgating mile of them, sometimes coming so close to you that they’d have collided if you’d had one extra coat of paint.
Reminiscing is good because although some things were better “back then,†many things were not.
South Shore’s traffic problems are not unique. It’s just that those of us who have lived here awhile have been spoiled by the fact that until recently, we haven’t had to deal with what much of the world takes for granted every day.
u Readers are encouraged to send their comments and concerns to me at 3036 College Ave., Ruskin, FL 33570 or e-mail them to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with Road Raves in the subject line.
Penny Fletcher is the editor of The Tampa Tribune affiliates The Sun and the South Shore News
I read your “Behind the Wheel” column in Monday’s Tribune and felt compelled to share some of my experiences. I don’t have a commute story per se, but as a traveling salesman covering all of Florida I am on the road a lot and see all sorts of things. Since your “Behind the Wheel†series is sometimes about safe driving, I thought I’d offer a few tips that every driver should think about:
1) Relax and slow down. Many accidents occur due to overly aggressive drivers. That extra couple of miles per hour will only make a few minutes difference in your arrival time vs. a lot of unnecessary danger for others around you.
2) On a multilane road, don’t cruise in the left lane. Use the rightmost lane to cruise and the left lane to pass. People who cruise in the left lane often force other drivers to pass on the right which is dangerous.
3) Along the same theme, don’t cruise right next to another car. Get your pass done safely and move back to the right as soon as it is safe to do so. Cruising at the same speed as the person next to you causes backups behind you, tension for those who want to pass you, and leads to overly aggressive driving.
4) Use your mirrors. That guy behind you did not appear out of nowhere. He is obviously moving faster than you are. Move over and let him pass. Also, as you are planning a pass on the highway, look to see if someone is approaching at a faster rate. Don’t jump out in front of him. Let him pass, then execute your pass when the lane is clear.
5) When merging onto, or pulling onto a highway, consider that the traffic approaching is already at full speed and most likely merely passing through. Stay in the furthest right lane until you are at full speed before pulling into the passing lane. This is very important if the approaching traffic happens to be a truck. Trucks have a lot of momentum and require much longer stopping distances than cars. Give them room.
6) Use your headlights, day or night, on two lane roads so that others can see you approaching. This is particularly important if a rising or setting sun is behind you. You might not need your headlights to see where you are going, but they enable other drivers to see you. Along these same lines, use your headlights in any rainy condition. If your wipers are on, your headlights should be on.
7) In heavy congestion, ease up and let merging traffic in. That extra car length you gain by pinching someone off is not going to matter down the road.
8) Give motorcycles extra room. They are harder to see and provide a lot less protection for their operators than cars or trucks. A simple fender bender can be fatal to a biker. Give them room.
9) Finally, be nice. Getting angry at other driver accomplishes nothing but increasing out stress levels.
Safe Motoring,
Don Stevens
Clearwater, FL
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