1. What’s the worst traffic jam you’ve ever been in?
It is likely a trip back from Fruita, CO, back home to Denver on i-70 on a Sunday afternoon during ski season – traffic backed up west of Silverthorne all the way through the tunnel down to Idaho Springs, inching along at 5 miles an hour. I had to make the trip. Parents are in Fruita, and work beckons. I usually try to plan these trips to return on a Tuesday morning which is usually a traffic joy, but there are times when you just have to bite the bullet and take the miserable version of the trip.
2. What’s your favorite thing to keep you going during traffic jams?
Music. Really loud music almost always works.
3. What is your opinion about honking your vehicle’s horn in traffic?
Only necessary for safety/emergency purposes. Anxious and in a hurry? Honking the horn will not help that.
4. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever witnessed while stuck in traffic?
I used to drive a few times a month from Gunnison, CO, up to Grand Junction for Army Reserves while in college, and invariably on the road north out of Montrose, I would see drivers reading newspapers and magazines placed on their steering wheels. It seemed like it was a thing.
5. What is a traffic sign that does not exist but should?
A series of reminder signs in safety yellow diamonds demonstrating how turn signals/lane change signals work.
1) Back when I worked in Colorado Springs and lived in Denver, driving back to Denver during the winter, during a storm and during rush hours. Normal time with traffic was 1.5 to 2 hours, that trip was 6 hours. And I-25 between Denver and Co SPgs does not have any outlets to dive off and go the long way around.
2) I do love NPR during those long wait times. I would like to get podcasts on my old radio in the truck.
3) I do honk when people create a hazardous or dangerous situation and, in these times, I honk to get the person stopped at the light in front of me to get off their damn phone and start going. That last one happens multiple times a day now.
4) Nothing too weird by today’s standards.
5) Your phone is NOT driving, you are!
1) I’m not sure if this counts as being “in it” but I was one of multiple ambulances that responded to that 104 car pile up on I-25 a number of years ago. It was so bad we went the wrong way from Alameda going up the off ramp and then south in the northbound lanes to get to the people.
2) I’m with you on this one Roy, good loud music can do wonders. Nowadays depending on where said traffic is, videos on my phone can also help.
3) Dangerous situations are frequent horn usage. I wish my car had a louder and more obnoxious horn.
4) Not really weird but shocking stuck in traffic and looked to my left and this guys girl was “sitting” in his lap, if you know what I mean.
5) There needs to be more minimum speed limit signs, and this needs to be enforced aggressively.
oh boy, that thing about people reading hits home. saw this once in Florida. We are, going full highway speed… 70 or 80 mph. I look over and a lady to the right is matching our speed. and she has a book open.. a paperback book… open and braced in the center of her steering wheel. She was reading a paperback book at highway speeds.