Highway I.E.D.

Buzzing along I-10 at 70 mph and looking to merge right toward the off-ramp after passing a slow-moving vehicle, I was suddenly stunned when a huge explosion went off next to my car. My first thought was that someone in the car next to me had fired a shotgun at my car; however, once my heart rate calmed down, I realized that I was in no immediate danger and began to look for the cause of the explosion.

The SUV in the lane next to me, the slow-moving vehicle I needed to pass on my way to the exit ramp, was driving on the freeway on a "donut," the temporary tire designed to get the car off the freeway and into the gas station, and it blew. In my area, the "donuts" are called upon to provide long and faithful service far beyond the short trip to safety for which they are designed.

It was a relief to see the SUV swerve onto the shoulder, rather than careering across the roadway, as there were several children in the back seat, obviously in the care of the female driver, who could barely be seen above the dashboard. All too often these sudden roadway emergencies send inexperienced drivers into panicked reaction mode, which ends in tragedy.

There has been a noticeable increase in traffic fatalities recently, perhaps tied to the influx of snowbirds, but probably more attributable to reckless driving practices. Some recent examples include:

**Entering the left-turn lane at an intersection, waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear, beginning my left turn, and being unexpectedly cut-off by an idiot in a huge pick-up truck who is turning left onto the same road I am heading toward--at the same time I'm making my turn! He's using the on-coming traffic lane to cut off several of the cars in the turning lane, but he didn't manage to hit any of us--this time.

**Coming to a T-intersection where through traffic (me) does not stop, but traffic coming off the intersecting road does. My posted speed limit is 55 mph, but no matter how close to the intersection I am in the morning or how much I slow down, several vehicles pull out in front of me, necessitating that I slam on the brakes and dive for the shoulder to avoid a collision. This morning, I held down the horn the entire time I was braking and moving out of the way of the little red Honda packed with dayworkers hoping for $10 an hour by crowding the corners at the local 7-11.

**Cruising down the main road on the way to the freeway, 5 miles an hour above the speed limit, same as all the other drivers, I was subjected to a shower of sand and desert rock from the asshole driving the big pick-up truck--on the right shoulder--around all the traffic. Everyone was honking horns and throwing the finger, but this guy was too busy off-roading to notice.

**And my favorite, the stretch of the road clearly marked "NO PASSING" that is a challenge to the gardeners and the pool workers, who are not only driving little 4-banger pick-ups, but are also loaded down with the tools of the trade. They have no acceleration, but somehow think it's important to pass all the vehicles in front of them in the "no passing" stretch. Perhaps they don't read road signs in English or don't know what the double yellow line means? Perhaps they don't realize that those two lights headed their way are at the front end of a vehicle being driven by a person who will die if/when hit head-on?

In the almost 10 years that I've been driving these same roads, I can count on one hand the number of law enforcement vehicles I've seen patrolling. They do show up when there's an accident, and more and more of the accidents are fatalities, but I'll bet that some of the deaths could be prevented by law enforcement patrolling and pulling over the egregious offenders I deal with every day I drive to work.

And while they're at it, perhaps law enforcement can check for driver's license, current registration, and insurance? An unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a piece of crap car that can't pass the smog requirements and isn't insured probably isn't too worried about causing an accident.