I assure you, there was a VERY good reason!

[IT Grunt]

Everyday, people will go about 10 mph and just look, at what is on the side of the road.

This irritates me to no end. More than half the time, the road's not blocked. The reason traffic is backed up is because of the damn rubberneckers, twisting around to get a look at the wreck and/or guy getting a speeding ticket. "OOOOOOH! LOOKY!"

I remember one time in Charleston I was driving along and ran into a wall of traffic. For nearly 30 minutes I was in that snarl to travel just 2 miles. When I got to where the 'big thing' was, it turned out to be one of the local cops having pulled a guy over. No wreck, no glass, no blocked lanes, nothing. Just a routine traffic stop, and everybody across all three lanes was slowing to a crawl to get a good look. Absolutely clear road beyond the rubberneckers. I was furious.

I'll never forget a recent incident where I was driving along the interstate, 70 MPH (that's the speed limit in this state), came around a curve and just 50 yards in front of me traffic was stopped dead. No warning signs, no cruisers to flag traffic, no flares, nothing. The accident was 10 miles up the road. I had to steer onto the shoulder while slamming my brakes to avoid slamming into a mini-van. That got the old pumper pumping for several minutes, let me tell you. At least this time, though, it was legit. A truck carrying bags of feed had flipped over, and only 1 lane was open while they cleaned up the mess, on a bridge no less, between exits. You had no where to go.

[protege]

And just in case THAT wasn't enough, he stood on his horn, leaned out his window and started bellowing. "WHAT DUH HELL GOIN' ON?! MOVE! I GOTS TA GIT HOME!!"

That sounds like 99.999% of the redneck idiots here. They're *always* in a hurry. Doesn't matter what the conditions are like, they want to get home/to the bar/etc *yesterday.* Needless to say, the vast majority (at least here) drive like freaking morons.

Just last year, I got to see one screw up in a *huge* way. How? Well, it had been snowing most of that day. Those who know how to drive in snow/ice were taking our time. Lots of hills to deal with, and I really didn't want to end up going down them sideways.

Anyway, as I'm coming down the last big hill before Second Avenue, some idiot in a beat-up black sedan started to tailgate me. Apparently he didn't think ice was a problem, even though the city has a well-deserved reputation for *not* keeping the streets clear. About a block before the Hazelwood pool, he decided to pass me. Keep in mind that the speed limit was only 25, and it was a two-laned road.

I knew what was probably going to happen, so I kept my distance. I wasn't too surprised when he lost control of the car ...and ran right into the tail end of a parked (and thankfully *unoccupied*) police cruiser

Needless to say that cop was pissed, but they had everything on tape--that particular neighborhood sees high crime, so there are cameras everywhere...all of which caught it all!