Road Rage #4: Route 14 in Harrington, DE

Rule: Avoid Route 14 in Harrington, Delaware

Reality: Laura and I have to drive through Harrington, Delaware on Route 14 for two miles at 25 mph each time a visit to the Milford, DE area is in order.

My Rationale: Harrington has a downtown central district that is only two miles long, but it feels like 10 miles because you are forced to drive right through it at 25 mph. The speed limit goes from a normal and comfortable 50 mph to a slow and painful 25 mph as you enter the cramped area. And to make the situation worse, the speed limit is strictly enforced by the stupid little town's one police officer (no joke - you better not even think about going one mph over 25 mph).

Advice: There is no bypass road around this 25 mph zone in Harrington. Why wouldn't you build a bypass road around the town when the surrounding area is littered with empty fields? I propose the construction of a bypass road (seems like a simple concept to me). Here is my depiction of a Route 14-Harrington Bypass:

I don't know about you, but it is difficult for me to consistently maintain speeds of less than 30 mph. The car just does not want to drive long distances at that speed. Anybody else experience areas/roads like Route 14 in Harrington, DE? I must say that the town seems fairly normal and tolerable otherwise. I just wish they would make it so I do not have to drive 25 mph for two miles while driving through on my way to Milford.

Top 10 Road Pet Peeves

I'm having trouble deciding which topic to gripe about next, so I decided to list my Top 10 road annoyances. I could probably make a list of at least 20 road annoyances, but I'm going to show some restraint for now. In an effort to give back to my blog followers, I have added a poll on the right side that will allow you to select the next Guido's Gripe from the following list...or another of your choosing.

10. Tailgaters of Tailgaters

9. Road Domination by Commuter (Keller) Buses

8. Traffic Weavers

7. Breakaholics

6. Slow Drivers

5. Not Using a Turn Signal

4. Route 14 in Harrington, Delaware

3. Non-Use of Deceleration Lane (see Road Rage #1)

2. Lack of Appropriate Headlight Use (see Road Rage #3)

1. Riding in the Left Lane (see Road Rage #2)

Again, this is just a sampling of my road pet peeves. People do lots of stupid things on the road and I would love to know if you have experienced any other dangerous situations on the road that could be classified as pet peeves.

General Gripe #1: "Legally Speeding"

Which scenario has the worst possible outcome?

A. Driving 100 mph in a 45 mph zone
B. Driving 45 mph in a 45 mph zone
C. Driving 50 mph in a 45 mph zone
D. Driving 40 mph in a 45 mph zone

If you selected A, you win!! But you don't get a prize...sorry. You do get the satisfaction of knowing that you are a smarter than a particular law enforcement officer. Recently, an innocent person was killed due to the stupidity of one such police officer. Let me ask you another question...

Which scenario would not be acceptable for a police officer when responding to a domestic dispute?

A. Driving 100 mph in a 45 mph zone
B. Driving between 76 and 99 mph in a 45 mph zone
C. Driving between 60 and 75 mph in a 45 mph zone
D. Driving between 45 and 59 mph in a 45 mph zone

If you selected A and B, you win!! But again, you don't get a prize. You are, however, a rational human being that recognizes when police power is being abused.

So why am I asking these questions? Here's your answer - Accident

After reading the article, I was trying to comprehend how fast the police officer had to be going to flip his own car. Movie studios can't even flip cars for movie stunts, so I'm guessing this police officer was driving pretty darn fast to actually pull off a flip. Some reports/on-lookers say the police car was going at least 80mph at the time of impact. Compounding this 80mph report are the 200 feet of skid marks before the impact area - meaning the police car actually slowed down before impacting and killing the innocent girl. In my estimation, the police officer was going at least 90mph (possibly even 100mph) in a 45mph zone...let me repeat...45mph zone.

Since I have used this intersection multiple times in the past, I'm pretty sure that a police car (or any car for that matter) going over 80mph into Dunkirk (coming over a hill) would not have been seen even if the person crossing the intersection uses all of the possible safe driving techniques. There is a reason for the 45mph speed limit - the blind hill, but none of that seemed to be in the mind of Deputy Wayne Wells as he created this horrific accident.

This kind of reckless behavior and abuse of power is totally unacceptable. I'm sure Deputy Wells will get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. He may even be (insert sarcasm) lucky enough to get six months of paid administrative leave vacation.

The situation worsened when Sheriff Evans arrived on the scene and decide to comment on the accident:

"He was speeding, but he was speeding legally," Evans said of Wells, who he believed was wearing his seatbelt at the time of impact. -somdnews.com-

Does anybody else agree with the Sheriff? There are limits to "legally speeding" - over 75mph in a 45mph should never be legal. I think I'll try to use the "legally speeding" excuse if I ever get pulled over for speeding. I can't believe I actually voted for this idiot Sheriff last election - never again.