I love sleeping in a Florida rainstorm. Well, not actually in the rain. In a bed, under a roof, cozy and dry while sheets of rain pummel my windows. That’s an Ivory soap moment – 99 and 44/100 percent pure pleasure.
Driving in a Florida rainstorm, however, is not my idea of fun. One minute you’re bopping along with rain sprinkles on your windshield, the next instant you’re deluged with enough rain to raise the lake levels six inches, and you’re lucky if you can see two feet in front of you.
Which, amazingly, doesn’t stop most of our Florida motorists. In fact, it seldom even slows them down. They plow nose-first into that blinding rainstorm with more guts, confidence and determination than professional bullriders focused on an eight-second ride (you know who you are).
I was thinking about that the other day as I, like a sheep, was barreling right along with the other drivers during one of those pelting rains. It seemed safer to stay with the flow than try to slow down and pull off the road and get rearended in the process. Yeah, right, that’s it.
The scenario got me to thinking about what ingredients make up a Florida highway. I know in cold climates, such as Montana (where they only have two seasons – winter and July), they add materials to make the highway resistant to damage from freezing. In places like Death Valley, Calif., the roads are resistant to damage from sizzling heat. So, do they add anything to Florida roads to help them bear up under excessive water?
Not really wanting to lie in bed awake all night debating the question or, worse yet, falling asleep and dreaming about roads (unless, of course, they are leading to Hawaii), I talked with Christine McDonald, public information officer with the Florida Department of Transportation. She said Florida’s roadways are designed to remove water from the driving surface as quickly and as safely as possible. Also, the roads use mixtures that include anti-strip agents or hydrated lime that are tested at the design stage to ensure that they meet the minimum moisture requirement.
She didn’t say anything about roads being designed to withstand speedmania, but we have that under control, right? Right.
More red-light enlightenment
In The Loop reader Chris Dohrmann wondered what the traffic laws say about turning left on a red light if you are on a one-way street with two lanes and are turning onto a one-way street with two lanes.
Our ever-patient answer man, Florida Highway Patrol trooper Larry Coggins said yes, that is the one exception to the turn right on red rule. You can turn left on red if both streets are one-way and the usual three conditions apply. Those conditions, you’ll remember if you read my previous column, are 1) the motorist comes to a complete stop; 2) there is no oncoming traffic; and 3) there is no sign saying you can’t turn on red. Coggins said it doesn’t make any difference how many lanes the one-way streets have.
Current roadwork
u Fletcher Avenue at 42nd Avenue and North Palm Drive in the USF area, eastbound/westbound lane will be closed during daytime only for roadway widening/improvements and signal work. The completion day is Aug. 15.
u Dale Mabry at Hudson Lane will be closed 24 hours a day through Feb. 16 while drilling work is being done. Motorists will detour on Dale Mabry, Floyd Road and Orange Grove Drive.
Today’s bumper sticker
Advice – don’t give it. The wise don’t need it; the fools don’t heed it.

Carole Dickey is a staff writer. who lives in Pasco County.  Send your rants and raves about traffic and motorists in the Land O’ Lakes/Wesley Chapel/New Tampa areas to . 

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It’s something of a fad, these loud train horns that are being installed in cars, SUVs and trucks, that are so loud they rattle the earth, rattle pedestrians and could theoretically endanger the reveries _ or safety _ of drivers who unknowingly offend another motorist armed with one of these 150-decibel horns designed for locomotives.
The story ran Monday in The Tampa Tribune’s Metro Section. Read it here: http://www.tbo.com/news/MGBFWEABCJE.html
The things are theoretically illegal, OK, probably illegal, and they are incredibly loud. One successful distributor, Hornblasters.com, was mentioned in the article, as was a local installer, Pete Martinez. They have now incurred the wrath of a group calling itself Noise Free America, with a chapter in St. Petersburg. Here is the group’s response, received this morning via e-mail:

February 7, 2006

Pete Martinez
Pete’s Automotive
301 Armenia Avenue
Tampa, FL 33607

Dear Mr. Martinez:
This office has been reviewing the article in the February 6 Tampa Tribune regarding your practice of installing train horns in cars. We would like to make you aware of the following:
1. Use of a train horn in a car is of course illegal. It violates the “unreasonable noise” statute and the statute governing the use of a horn for a purpose other than safety. This apparently is not your concern. You are making money and having fun, and that’s all that matters. No one will ever mistake you or Mr. Heller (and how well named he is!) for a humanitarian.
2. It is only a matter of time before one of the following (or both) happens:
Someone with a bad heart (like me) drops over dead from the fright, or
Someone like me only bigger and meaner gets out of his car and beats the horn-blower into a pulp. At least one member of another national anti-noise organization has announced his intention of carrying a baseball bat in his car for just this purpose.
3. The Florida Highway Patrol officer who works with as a liaison with the legislature has been approached about requesting a law banning the installation of train horns in cars. Law enforcement is not amused.
4. I know you think it’s funny to watch people jump out of their skins with fright, but I am 64 years old with high blood pressure and a severe somatic allergic to loud noise. It doesn’t just affect my blood pressure – it produces pain in my head, chest, and/or stomach, causes me to sweat, makes my heart race, and (and note this, because a lot of people respond this way) sends a surge of adrenaline through my body that makes me, involuntarily, very aggressive and violent.
5. Should there be an incident where someone who has purchased one of these weapons from you is the direct cause of another person’s injury or death, one or more anti-noise organizations is prepared to sue the horn-blower and you and your business for damages. As the provider of this device, you are as culpable as the person who uses it. You and Mr. Heller are advised to take out a lot of insurance. A lot.
6. The Hillsborough County Sheriff and the local office of the FHP have been contacted with a request for an immediate crackdown on this highly antisocial, unsafe and unhealthy hobby.
Noise Free America hopes you will take the foregoing to heart and find another way to make a living.

Sincerely,
Judy Ellis

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We have a reputation as the lightning capital of North America, but this can also be a pretty foggy place as well. We average 22 “heavy fog” days a year with the vast majority of them falling during the winter months.
In recent years, the Tampa Bay area has experienced more than 100 fog-related crashes in November and December, about 250 in January and more than 150 in February. That state logs nearly 5,000 fog-related crashes during those four months.
Ideal conditions for fog formation are temperatures between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, relatively high humidity with calm winds and clear skies.
Almost all fog-related crashes occur during drivers” early morning commutes and are caused by drivers” failure to maintain uniform, reduced speeds during periods of poor visibility. Even the most careful drivers in fog can’t protect themselves from other drivers on the road driving faster than visibility allows.
Some advice from the Community Traffic Safety Team - a Department of Transportation committee of engineers, traffic enforcement agencies, emergency responders and public information specialists, including AAA:
* Consider delaying your trip; fog generally burns off pretty quickly;
* Use low beams - not parking lights - not just parking or fog lights - and not emergency flashers when the vehicle is moving.
* Slow down; leave longer breaking distances; avoid braking sharply;
* Minimize lane-changing;
* Listen for trouble ahead: crack a window open, turn down the radio;
* Use extreme care at intersections.

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Lori Buck/Maricelle Venegas
Public Information Officer

Road Closures from 39th Street to Morgan Street
on Saturday Night, February 4th to Sunday, February 5th
on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway

Motorists can now expect the road closure on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway westbound SATURDAY from 39th Street, exit 10 to Morgan Street, exit 6. The road closure will begin 8 p.m. and is expected to reopen on Sunday, February 5th at approximately 6:00 p.m.  This closure is necessary for overhead bridge work on the new reversible bridge in the downtown area.

Detour: Westbound motorists will be detoured off at 39th Street, exit 10 travel north to Hwy. 60, west to Channelside Dr., west on Brorein Street, and re-enter the westbound Expressway at Morgan Street, entrance #6. 

While traveling through the work zone, motorists are urged to use caution, obey the posted speed limit of 45 mph.  Please be advised that unforeseen circumstances such as weather may affect the construction schedule.

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TAMPA—All lanes of northbound I-275 have been REOPENED over Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard after repairs to the pothole in the left lane.
__

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Motorists can expect a road closure on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway westbound from 39th Street, exit 10, to Morgan Street, exit 6. The road closure will begin tonight, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. and is expected to reopen on Saturday at approximately 6 p.m. This closure is necessary for overhead bridge work on the new reversible bridge in the downtown area.

Westbound motorists will be detoured off at 39th Street, exit 10, and travel north to Hwy. 60, west to Channelside Drive, west on Brorein Street, and re-enter the westbound Expressway at Morgan Street, entrance 6. While
traveling through the work zone, motorists are urged to use caution, obey the posted speed limit of 45 mph. Please be advised that unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather may affect the construction schedule.

Lori Buck/Maricelle Venegas
Public Information Officers,
Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority

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TAMPA (10:40 a.m.)—The left and center lanes of northbound I-275 have been closed over Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard for repairs to a pothole in the left lane.  Traffic is very slow on northbound I-275 leading up to the closure area.  No estimate has been set yet as to when the lanes will reopen to traffic.
______________________________
John McShaffrey, DOT Public Information Officer
Interstate Construction Office
http://www.myTBI.com
TBI is Tampa Bay Interstates

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I just learned that this past spring’s legislative session in Tallahassee featured an actual bill designed to get those incredibly slow drivers out of the passing lane on multilane highways.

(Sometimes I think those annoying motorists are closet FHP troopers, determined to enforce the speed limit all by themselves, reveling in the column of cars with fuming, headlight-blinking, horn-honking drivers building behind them, knowing it is thanks to them the dirty lawbreakers are for once obeying the speed limit.)

House Bill 157 was even labeled “The Road Rage Reduction Act” and sponsored by a host of state reps including Rich Glorioso and Kevin Ambler, Republicans both, of Hillsborough County.

It required drivers to yield the right-of-way to any faster-moving vehicles in the left lane of multilane highways—regardless of how fast the passing vehicle is going—and drive in the right-hand lane if not actually passing slower-moving vehicles.

Those who failed to move over would be given a ticket, with 3 points assessed to their licenses.

It passed 113-4 in the House, 28-10 in the Senate.

Then it was vetoed by Gov. Jeb Bush.

In his veto message, Bush wrote that the bill “"appears to address a perception, rather than an empirically-established reality, that Florida is experiencing road incidents connected with so-called “rolling roadblocks” created when inconsiderate or unwitting drivers occupy the left-hand lane while proceeding along at the same speed as right-lane traffic.

“"Second… the bill would allow a law-abiding motorist who fails to make way for an approaching speeder to be punished with a fine.’’

Then he questioned whether this was a useful way for limited traffic enforcement personnel to spend their time, and whether the proposal’s enforcement might discourage tourists from visiting The Speeding State.

But its biggest shortcoming, he wrote, is that it would “"provide relief for those traveling at high rates of speed, or possessed of emotional intemperance at the expense of cautious and careful drivers.’’

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As we march into 2006 – or, since this is a traffic column, I should say motor into 2006 – I suspect there are more than a few readers out there whose eyes, which a short time ago feasted on holiday buffets, now feast on new car models.
For those of you lucky, smart or rich enough to have made it through Christmas shopping with money left over for car shopping, you might want to check out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web site, http://www.safercar.gov. NHTSA recently completed its first round of front and side impact crash tests on new vehicles already in dealer showrooms and found five vehicles worthy of five-star ratings, with five stars being the highest rating in both crash and rollover testing.
New model year 2006 ratings are available for 14 passenger cars, four SUVs, two vans and one pickup truck, plus previous years’ test results on other models.
Their pamphlet, “Buying a Safer Car 2006,” helps buyers decide which vehicle to buy based on the vehicle’s safety in construction and features. You can also pick up some helpful tips on tire ratings, equipment/maintenance and defects/recalls.
A word about gas mileage: Don’t necessarily believe what the window sticker says. As gas prices soar and more sophisticated car electronics track the mileage accurately, drivers have become increasingly aware of the discrepancy between sticker statements and gas gauge reality.
The Environmental Protection Agency provides fuel economy data that is posted on the window stickers of new vehicles. On Jan. 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is proposing new test methods for calculating the fuel economy estimates. This is still in the discussion stage. The problem with the current system is that it doesn’t reflect actual driving conditions. During the EPA tests, certain things are controlled, like the stop-and-go time, the weight in the car, the air drag against the car, the temperature, which affects performance and other things.
For more on this topic, visit http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy.

Current construction projects
Interstate 75 southbound from the vicinity of State Road 56 to south of County Line Road is being widened to provide an additional lane on Interstate 275 southbound.
The project also includes resurfacing I-75 from County Line Road to the Cypress Creek Bridge and installing a median barrier guardrail system on I-275 from U.S. 41 to I-75/I-275 interchange.
The projected completion time is late 2006.
State Road 52 from Moon Lake Road to the Suncoast Parkway is being widened from two to six lanes.
The projected completion date is fall 2008.
S. R. 54 from Mitchell Bypass (Little Road area) to east of Gunn Highway is being widened from two to six lanes.
The projected completion date is spring 2006.
Hanna Avenue at Thatcher Avenue is having a sewer main replaced beginning Jan. 30 with anticipated completion Feb. 24.
Motorists will experience a detour to Olive, Idlewild and Hubert avenues.

Today’s bumper sticker
“Lead me not into temptation. I can find it myself.” Submitted by In the Loop reader Irwin Schuster, New Tampa.

Carole Dickey is a staff writer who lives in Pasco County.  Send your rants and raves about traffic and motorists in the Land O’ Lakes/Wesley Chapel/New Tampa areas to .

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This from Ray Gilbert, of Tampa:

Re: Driving habits causing causing traffic jams.

This also results in more traffic accidents.

There is a Florida law that demands drivers allow about 10 feet between cars for every 10 mph of speed.

There can be tickets given out for driving too close. If this law were to be enforced, maybe there would be enough room between cars so that there would be plenty of time to compensate for traffic problems.

How can we push for enforcement of this law? They would be easy tickets and would bring in lots of money for the police department to do more to protect people on the road.

More traffic could flow on the same roads so there would not be the need to spend so much money on widening them; emergency vehicles would not have such a difficult time trying to get to people in need of help; aggressive drivers would have room to dart in and out without causing accidents; there would be fewer hospital visits and car repairs.

Thank you,
Ray S. Gilbert
Tampa

Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Larry Coggins responds that car lengths/distances between vehicles are suggestions offered by the state’s Driver’s Handbook. Tickets for following to closely _ more than 3,500 are given each year _ are a judgement call on the part of the law enforcement officer, but he advises that leaving less than a car length on a highway is way too close.

The law, Florida Statute 316.0895, actually states that motorists “shall not follow more closely than reasonable or prudent having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and condition of the surface of the highway.”

The only reference to distances, Coggins said, is that heavy commercial trucks, tractor-trailers and vehicles towing trailers or campers shall stay 300 feet (the length of a football field) behind the vehicle in front of them.

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There will be some closures TONIGHT on and beneath the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway at 22nd Street:

Motorists can expect intermittent lane closures at 22nd Street between S.R. 60 / Adamo Drive and just north of Long Street tonight. This closure will take place for approximately two hours sometime between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

In addition, motorists traveling westbound on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway will be detoured off at the 39th Street, exit 10, and be directed to re-enter the expressway at Morgan Street. Detour signs and variable message boards will assist in routing traffic. These closures are necessary for overhead bridge work on the new reversible bridge in the 22nd Street area.

Detour Route for motorists traveling on 22nd Street:

Northbound to S.R. 60: Motorists traveling north on 22nd Street going to S.R. 60 will be detoured at Durham Street. Motorists will turn left on Durham St., turn right at 19th St. and turn right onto S.R. 60 which leads to 22nd Street.

Northbound to Crosstown Expressway: Motorists traveling north to Selmon Crosstown Expressway will have access to the eastbound 22nd Street on-ramp entrance #9.

Southbound: Motorists traveling south on 21nd St. toward the Port of Tampa will turn right on S.R. 60, travel to 19th St. , turn left on 19th St., turn left at Durham Street which leads to 22nd Street.

Detour Route for motorists traveling westbound on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway: Westbound motorists will be detoured off at 39th Street, exit 10 travel north to Hwy. 60, west to Channelside Dr., west on Brorein Street, and re-enter the westbound Expressway at Morgan Street, entrance #6.

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Anthony del Nunzio of Pinellas Park writes:

I have always been annoyed with the phantom tie-ups.

In my experience, a slight bend in the road, an uphill section—so lowered visibility to the front is less than drivers’ expectations—followed by a slight easing up on the accelerator, and you have slowdown and a backup.

This has been going on forever. I was thrilled when cruise control found it’s way into automobiles thinking traffic would flow more uniformly, but in congested areas I’m sure most drivers cancel it.

When involved with the phantom slowdowns, I always think back to many years ago in New York City’s tunnels where personnel working within the tunnels would lean over their walkway rails and wave motorists along to speed up traffic to clear the tunnel. It worked great half the time, waking you up to move along.

Maybe roadway overhead message boards can accomplish something similar.

The shockwave article ran today in The Tampa Tribune. Check it here:
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB3KHH92JE.html

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.... The new roundabout at Tampa Bay Boulevard and Lois Avenue opened to through traffic today.  Work on the roundabout began last July 2005.
The design, with three separate approaches, was managed by the city of Tampa’s Transportation Division. It was designed to improve traffic flow while enhancing safety for both motorists and pedestrians.  This project was done in cooperation with Hillsborough Community College, which donated the land for the project.
The $893,000 intersection project will assist motorists during Raymond James Stadium and Legends Field events, as well as the daily commute to and from the college, city Transportation Manager Ray LaMotte Jr. said.

The project also adds landscaping and irrigation within the circle, sidewalks and additional street lighting around its perimeter. 

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I said you’d be the first to hear about it when I received updates on the MacDill Avenue and Azeele Street intersection project. Now I can make good on my word.

As mentioned in an earlier column, the crossing is slated for improvements that include resurfacing, repainting and the addition of left turn lanes on all four approaches. Plans are drawn and ready, but the city got tangled up in some tricky land acquisitions.

Chief project designer Thomas Capell – to whom I send my apologies for previously misspelling his last name as “Catell” – gave me a call last week with the latest news.

He said the city has made headway with landowners who hold adjacent properties, and efforts to obtain the necessary land are “now on track.”

“If they stay on course, we should be able to bid the project by May or June,” he said. That lands construction within the second half of 2006, hopefully.

Hang in there.

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Negotiating city traffic sure looks and feels more dangerous than a Sunday drive in the country, but no less than the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a study released last month, says that motoring through rural areas is a whole lot more deadly.

Forty-two percent more fatal crashes occur in rural parts of the nation than on busy urban highways - think the Tampa Bay area’s interstates.

The study looked at fatal crashes from 1994 through 2003, and found that rural crashes are more likely likely to involve: multiple fatalities, rollovers and motorcyclists being thrown from their bikes, not to mention encounters with wildlife.

Making matters worse, it takes a lot longer for emergency medical crews to make it to the scene.

The Associated Press quotes Jeffrey Michael, senior research director for the NHTSA as saying “rural driving is far more risky,” appearances to the contrary.

In one year, 2003, Montana led the nation with 95.4 percent of its fatal crashes occurring along rural roads, followed by Maine, South Dakota and South Carolina. You may figure: Sure, they have a whole lot more country than city in those places - but there is a whole lot less traffic in rural areas, too, and far fewer crashes.

So, when they’re bad in the country, they’re really bad. And help is not necessarily on the away.

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