Tag: Travel

DUI

Today I reaffirmed a resolution I made 30 years ago, never to Drink and Drive. As the saying goes ” a wise man knows when to come in out of the rain”. It was December 1988 I went to a Christmas party the company spared no expense on the Lavish catering, the Booze flowed like a River and I swam in it like a Fish. What I didn’t take into consideration was driving home 180 miles from N.Y. to Pennsylvania. In over 50 years of Driving I always ran with the leaders, so that means I covered that 180 miles swiftly. Thank God I didn’t kill anyone or myself. I made it home in one piece, slept it off woke up the next Day with a Hangover which was not the biggest headache. The big headache was not finding my car only driven nine thousand miles in my Driveway, I wasn’t that drunk that I didn’t know that I drove it home.

I decided to walk down the Hill looking for my car four or five houses down the road my car was parked in someone’s Driveway. I approached the car in the Yard when the Homeowner came out and said hello, he informed me that I was so Drunk I tried to break into his House when my key didn’t fit the Lock on his front door. He informed me that if he didn’t recognize me he would have shot me. Now I ask you is that a wake-up call or what, that was the last time I drove while being intoxicated. This should not have happened considering that at seventeen I was a passenger in a car that two Drunks were racing each other at speed of over 100. Also knowing that my friend Precious died at nineteen when the car she was a passenger in hit a Lightpole the Driver was Drunk he lived.

I am hard on myself when I do Dumb things even though it happened 30 years ago, so I have no respect for habitual Buzz or drunk Drivers. If you are alive and reading this be happy because I am here to tell you that a Cat only has nine lives, if you don’t expire yours, then someone else. Over the years I have worked with two people that should have both be in a Hospital for Chronic Alcoholism yet they were very good at what they did for a living. One problem if they did not have a shot before their Coffee they would be sick as in ill.Thank God they used Public Transportation. What I am saying is Driving intoxicated is Russian Roulette same as Smoking cigarettes it’s a matter of when and how. When I drive 1100 miles in good time stopping every 3 or 4 hundred miles I appreciate what it means to be Sober.

Once I had a Cold, listening to old wives Talk that a shot of Brandy in hot Tea was good, I might have finished my Tea but my rear Bumper came home in the backseat. When that happened I was an accomplished Drinker, how it choose to affect you is solely up to your Body Chemistry. If you have never experienced the feelings of being intoxicated while being behind the wheel, don’t even think it. It is an absolute Jackass way of Dying in mangled Steel and Glass rearranging your Body Structure. For weeks I have been debating that it was time that I write something on Drunk Driving, the events of 11/15/18 produced this Blog. It was one O’clock in the afternoon traveling a strip of Road posted 45 MPH, entering this road is difficult because the Buildings are right up to the intersection, making visibility difficult.

A Truck got to the intersection first, it’s standard operations for a Truck to swing wide while making turns. A car was second to arrive at the intersection, Being impatient the Driver of the car squeezed to the right of the Truck. The opposing traffic was steady so they both had to wait, out of the blue a Bicyclist joined the fray to the right of the impetus Driver in the car triple Jeopardy was brewing. Observing all this twenty feet from this fateful intersection, as soon as I passed I glanced over my shoulder to see the Bicycle mangled under the car’s front right tire and the rider laying on the grass five feet from his Bicycle. This poor rider learned a painful lesson about being patient if the Driver of the Truck was as impatient as the other two the outcome would have been catastrophic.

That was the start of my Day, coming home twelve Am was the real catastrophe stopping for the light at Lake road and Tarpon spring Blvd was like any other stoplight. What happened after the light changed was straight out of the Movies, a Truck five cars in front of me suddenly gunned its engine veered in front of me trying to pass in the right lane, went off the Road then back onto the Road then immediately flipped and rolled five times into the woods. I immediately pulled over put on my flashing lights on and ran towards the vehicle resting on it’s Roof. My first instinct was that they were all dead, as soon as I got to the Vehicle a Man and a Woman crawled through the damaged Windows on each side of the vehicle screaming frantically.

Being  trained how to handle emergency situations I approached the vehicle cautiously evaluating imminent danger of the Vehicle bursting into flames. After determining that it was safe to get closer to the Vehicle I yelled out ” is there anyone else in the Vehicle. It seemed that I asked the lifesaving question, injured and bleeding the the Woman lunged back into the Vehicle on her Belly crawling into the cab and exiting with a Car seat with a two year old in it. Within two minutes of all of this there wasn’t a sound made by the infant, as the Mother’s body made it halfway out of the upside down Truck she handed me the Baby, that was the first sign of Life from the Baby when it cried.

Still in control a foot away from the Truck I smelled Gas, other Drivers who came to help started to gather, I pulled the Mother and Child fifteen feet from the Vehicle and ordered everyone away from the Vehicle called 911 and resumed my trip home. From an accident investigation point of view, Drugs or Alcohol was to blame for this Catastrophe. Can you imagine the nerve of this Driver with an infant in the Vehicle, bad enough that you don’t value your life but what of the rest of us. As I have said before its not a matter of if but when and how, as long as you continue to Drink and Drive

Idiots Behind The Wheel

My impression of Life is that one should learn and grow with each new Day, learning something from the previous Day. So why dose’nt everyone share this mindset, especially when it comes to Driving. Sometimes I might come across as being mean spirited but I am not, it’s just that when it comes to Driving People Brings out the worst in me. During my weekly commute of 250 miles Driving two cars in rotation, combined cost of the cars $70,000, there is always some idiot who think they know how to Drive trying to alter the perfect condition of my vehicles, they are either tailgating, misjudging distance or any of a million stupid things an inept or callous Driver does on a daily basis for twenty five years of traveling the same Route every Day.

Jedi 1

One of my cars which is still factory fresh 45,000 miles and three and a half years later has survived so many Death wish Drivers, Bicyclists and Pedestrians crossing a 55Mph Speedway so many times I call my Buick Verano Jedi 1. Keeping a car brand new after three years is of no effort for me having the best Driving instructor in the world who told me to drive like I am the only one out there that knows what I am doing. I started driving Heaps at seventeen while teaching myself automotive repairs by going to the Junkyard. I learned Automotive maintenance by going to the Junkyard, stripping Cars there then going home and rebuilding my $500 Heaps, so keeping a three year old car new is child’s play for me. The difficulty comes when it leaves the driveway on a 35 MPH strip of Road called Embassy Blvd.

Every Idiot that uses this Road does not obey the speed limit some do 60-65 this is a working class community, yet you never see any kids playing on their front Lawn. The kids know that cars do jump Curbs at high speeds. I have never known a Boulevard that idiots didn’t lose their rationality, six months ago a young mother pushing a Stroller cross one was killed along with her infant child. The two idiots racing are being charged with vehicular Homicide, if they were given twenty years it still wouldn’t be enough for their mindless act. Three years ago a careless Mother crossing Missouri Ave which is also a Boulevard, crossing against the light six months old in a Stroller and three years old by the hand.

They were all mowed down by a careless motorists killing the infant, Mother and child physically impaired for Life, no tire marks were found at the accident scene, the Driver wasn’t changed. If I was involved in an accident like that I would voluntarily surrounded my license. It appears to me that mindless Jackasses are also without conscience. A Family member of mine have always drove expensive cars like BMW’s he crashed so many I lost count of the catastrophes, the last was the worst, broke his neck in two places broken Pelvic and numerous other fractures, the car had to be dismantled to extricate him. This has been a long time coming, always driving like his name was Dale.

Something that I find strange, he never mentioned the other vehicles and Drivers involved in the accident and whose fault it was. All I could hear was my English Literature Teacher’s voice what is the Author not saying. Well I will tell you what I am saying about these Mindless Jackasses who gets behind the wheel and think they are Racecar Drivers, you suck, take a good look at yourself in the Mirror, you can’t even have sex and chew Gum at the same time without missing a stroke, yet you are Texting while you perform a task that requires total focusing on the Road looking out for other idiots like yourself. Who  do you think you are Multitasking when you can’t even cut an onion without cutting off a finger.

As Mr T would say wakeup Fool. You are right I am an angry Bird, I have been Driving for over fifty years with two accidents that were caused by idiots behind the wheel,  yes I am carrying a 45 year grudge, the Driver of a Jaguar had to prove to me that he was an idiot crossing five Lanes of Ice Slicked Roadway, cutting me off then taking his foot off the gas. That mindless act thought me that sometimes you have to rear end a Rolls Royce to save your Life and other Drivers. With the touch of a feather I veered to my left to avoid a rear end, my car went out of control on the ice slicked surface, spun around numerous times sideswipe five vehicles, slammed into the Guardrail ripping up twenty five yards of it, crashed through into the opposing traffic and getting nailed at sixty five MPH.

Why wouldn’t I be writing about safe Driving and Idiots behind the wheel. For over fifty years of Driving some Commercially I have been watching your mindless approach to Driving anticipating that one day you are going to advance to my skill level and I see that it is never going to happen, because most people do not learn on a day to day basis. So in conclusion let me reverberate Paul McCarthy, yesterday don’t matter anyway, so good bye Ruby Tuesday, because today I heard the News about a man who blew his Mind out in a Car. When you are out there acting up and acting stupid remember 55 stay alive.

PS not because I make lite of a serious matter don’t mean that I am not Dead serious.

The Hype

If I haven’t said enough about speed, let me say one more thing about spending, do not fall for the Hype. Have you ever seen a new car commercials that the Manufacturer wasn’t selling Speed, telling you how nimble this Car is 0-60 in no time flat and stops on a dime. If you weren’t going so fast you wouldn’t need such great Breaking ability, because sometimes the best Anti-lock brakes won’t save you if you are going too fast for inclement Road Conditions. My friend Harry was well Educated smart enough to be a Professor, when it comes to Driving he was Dumber than a bunch of Rocks. Over the years he has crashed at least seven fine Automobiles, one almost killed him and didn’t come away from any of them any wiser. No one had ever told him that Macho crap only worked in the Movie, as in Cannonball Run and Driven.  Recently my car driven thirty thousand miles almost rear ended another car driven by someone who doesn’t know where his turn signal is located on the steering column. Also I was going too fast on a wet Road, my Anti-locking system engaged properly but I still had to pump my Brakes and swerve away. Usually I Drive better than that but I was in a hurry.

Being in a hurry is never a good enough reason to destroy a fine inexpensively manufactured Automobile. Trust me these Days they are all cost cutting Death Traps even if they cost a hundred thousand Dollars, they are all made with inexpensive materials. When Steel was manufactured in Pittsburgh a car involved in a bad crash could endure a multiple roll over and many times the occupants walked away. Today’s Steel is not the same, we are living in such a cost effective manufacturing environment that everything being manufactured these  Days is built with materials inferior to materials manufactured fifty years ago, including Houses.

At seventeen when I bought my first car a twenty year old Buick Wildcat it was a Battleship that could withstand a wall at sixty MPH, Today my Buick Verano that cost ten times what a brand new Wildcat cost could not endure the same collision, with an Aluminum Engine and Transmission. Aluminum shatters while Steel bends. I started working on cars early so I could keep my Heaps running, so when I do my own service an a 2015 car I know what I am looking at, Plastic and Styrofoam Bumper and Aluminum instead of Steel Motor. Taken all this into consideration why would I go racing around Town like the Commercial suggest, knowing that my chances of survival in a bad crash is not the same as with my Wildcat.

My Advice to you is don’t fall for the Hype that speed is cool, it’s not, I drove commercially for many years so I had no choice many times but to speed to make timely deliveries, like the time I ran from Georgia to Clearwater Florida averaging 85Mph for eight hours, keep in mind that it was nighttime on open Road. Traveling on the Van wyck Expressway at twelve noon doing seventy, two brand new cars blew my Doors off doing 85, I was in the middle Lane, two hundred yards up ahead of me they simultaneously decided to share the middle Lane, both cars disintegrated and littered the Roadway in front of me. I had to drive on the Grass to avoid hitting one of the Driver laying in the Roadway, mindless speeding in the middle of the Day has its consequences. Don’t fall for the Hype, speed kills beautiful brilliant young people who will never see the wonderful Life they threw away for a moment’s Thrill.

For many years I drove what I could afford yet I respected every car that I drove,  Why? It was Transportation, to me that represents freedom. Isn’t that what  America is about, going from State to State and not having to show Papers.Taking all this into consideration can you tell me why the average Driver drives like a Maniac putting their lives and others at risk. What about destroying a fine Automobile all because it is insured. The State I live in has No Fault Insurance and you should see the fine Automobiles involved in Wrecks. Out of respect I treat my car as if I didn’t have insurance, every trip is taken with the utmost of care. First and foremost the car I am driving is the same make that was my first Car, I love this particular make and Model, it is one of the best made Car built in America for one hundred years.

My goal is to pass this Car on to my son because it is destined to be a Classic. This car does 170, the interior design is Classic, press a Button and it ask me to say a command, On Star, texting, WiFi ,Bluetooth and front end crash sensors, Blind Spot and Rear Sensors is available. Why would I be in such hurry to send such a fine Automobile to the Junk Yard. Not to mention loosing my Life and taking others with me. One day on my way to work the traffic came to stand still, when I got to the Accident Scene I noticed a Car costing twice what mine was Worth in the Ditch, the Roof was missing removed by the Jaws of Life, I said a little Prayer hoping that they survived. What was unique about this accident scene was there were no other Cars involved. That means the Driver was racing this fine Beast at top speed in the middle of the Day, not having any respect for that fine Automobile, his Life or yours, with devastating outcome.

Sometimes I feel like a one eyed man in the land of the Blind. Knowing that having a fine Automobile doesn’t mean you go showing off driving it at 120, but instead it is my means of transportation that takes me to the Poccono Mountains or Clearwater Beach, that is all my Automobile means to me Freedom. Not a dangerous toy that does 170. I wish that I could impress on fellow young drivers that their Predecessors have been doing this business of driving the wrong way for 100 years and the amount of Lives Lost bears me out. So when you are out there with the Pedal to the metal remember that after adding the cost of financing, insurance and maintenance that same vehicle is now costing you three times the sticker price. All the more reason you Should drive with Diligence and forget the Hype. The Buick Verano is one of the sharpest Car that Buick have ever created, High Tech, Styling and performance this car is got it. Yet as a result of cost effective blindness they discontinued it’s manufacturing, that’s ok by me because I know how to keep them new and protect the paint.

This is no place for a Gravesite Yet I see them everyday, a makeshift Grave for a Loved one who died at that spot. I have seen these Roadside Graves from Erie Pennsylvania to Dallas Texas and every States in between. The first time I started noticing them on the Highway, I thought to myself that someone needed to rest fell asleep at the wheel. Over the years I have come to realize that it’s careless Drivers who creates them. I drove a Truck for many years so I have been more exposed to Road Horrors than the average Commuters. The Department of Transportation and Osha warns of the Dangers of being behind the wheel for too long a period of time for safety reasons. So I must tell you that Truckers driving for eight hours a day do not cause 90% of the Highway and inner city Fatalities. It’s Soccer Moms , people running errands and people driving like Taxi and Pizza Delivery Drivers, and dont forget the thrill seekers who gets behind the wheel and think they are Racecar Drivers.

There is such a vast difference between a Motorist a Driver and a Vehicle operator. Most People on the Road are only operators, they got their Driver’s Licenses on minimal skills and they operate at that level for the rest of their lives. Bad Driving habits are like any other bad habits they are hard to break sometimes you never loose them until they wreck your life. I have known Jane for all of her life and as long as I have known her she was a reckless Driver, over aggressive and heavy foot on the Gas Pedal. I can’t remember how many bad accidents she has been involved in but none of them made her a better Driver.

Her last accident almost killed her, she never mentioned the other Driver involved or whose fault. The gravity of her injuries told me that all who were involved suffered badly. How can one live with oneself knowing that you cause such calamity on the Roadways because of your imbecilic attitude towards Driving.

As the saying goes, it’s a Fool that does things the same way all the time and expect different results. Whenever I pass a bad accident or a Roadside Grave it strengthens me to become a better Driver, most people neither of which phases them that this could be me, I have always tried to learn from other people’s mistakes, I have been Driving for forty seven years with two wrecks that weren’t my fault and every time I get behind the wheel it’s a new learning experience watching my fellow Drivers Driving mindlessly knowing that the Lord looks out for Babies and Fools.

Not only is it the Lord’s job but to stay alive out there you need to be on the constant lookout for them, remembering to drive like you are the only one out there that knows what they are doing. Then you have the ones who think that Buzz Driving is their God’s given right, also the Chronic

Alcoholic who have been Driving impaired for so long it becomes second Nature. Once while working for a Major Corporation my Boss took me to Lunch at a nearby Bar and Grill, before we were seated his lunch was at the Table a double Scotch on the rocks. Before we left he had another and before his long Commute he would have a couple more. I’m quite sure that when he got Home he had another couple, this was his daily routine he had been doing it all his life until one day going home he ended his Life along with three undeserving Motorists.

Billy Martin had been known to drink and drive, one morning while riding with a Drunk they drove down an embankment killing themselves and so another Roadside Grave was created. Today we have an Epidemic of people who can’t even have sex and chew gum at the same time, yet these same people never put down their Cell Phones, oftentimes they are Texting while driving at sixty MPH or better. When they make impact with your Car there is no skid marks. In conclusion I am telling you to always drive like your life depends on it, because it does.