I never thought I would find anything anywhere that made me scream more than Eagle Road in Idaho. I've found it. It's any street in the state of Utah.
Cache Valley roads drive me insane. Cache Valley drivers keep the break to the floor and occasionally tap the gas. It's ridiculous. They don't believe in going the speed limit; they go at least five under. It's even true for the college students, not just the elderly. People flat out ignore speed limit signs that say 45 miles per hour on 1400 North. On that road, they go 35. It's insane!
Then there's the rest of the state of Utah. I think Cache Valley is living in its own little bubble. As soon as you pull onto the highway outside of Tremonton (which I realize is Box Elder County) you become a traffic hazard for going to slow if you drive the speed limit. The closer you get to Salt Lake, the more you become a hazard if you're going only five over the speed limit. I drove through a construction area near Layton and Kaysville (that area that has been under construction for the last thirty years) and the posted speed limit was 55 mph. There was even a sign that said that fines would double for speeding in the construction zone. Apparently that didn't deter anyone but me. People were still flying by at 75-80 mph. As soon as the construction zone ended, they kicked it into high gear and were sailing by at 85-90 mph. What made me laugh hardest was seeing the police car driving down the road going at least 85 mph and not pulling one person over.
We learned this theory in sociology that I think applies her. (Weird; I actually learned something in that class.) It's the broken windows theory. "New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani adopted the Broken Windows Theory and implemented a community-policing strategy focused on order maintenance… graffiti washed nightly from subway cars, $1.25 subway turnstile-jumpers arrested, trash picked up. Minor, seemingly insignificant quality-of-life crimes were found to be the tipping point for violent crime. When New York "windows" were repaired, crime dropped." (http://www.icms.net/broken_windows.htm) I find that this same principle applies to the Utah roadways, at least outside of Cache Valley. For so long, insane drivers have driven like maniacs on the roads that it is no big deal to see someone driving twenty miles over the speed limit. It would take time to change anything, but I think eventually, if there was a tough crack down on speeders, Utah drivers would eventuall learn to slow down or go broke from all of their traffic tickets.
Man, I can't wait to be on Utah freeways over the Thanksgiving holidays.
1 comment:
Look at this! It is Stacey's cute room-mate. I saw you were following our blog so made the quick link-trip over to check yours out. I had to laugh at this entry...it almost made me miss driving in Cache Valley (How sick is that?) and it also brought back some good old sociology memories (that was my minor as an undergrad and my heart sings when somebody references a sociology lesson!)Thanks so much again for letting me intrude in your dorm last week. I hope school continues to go well for you guys...and keep following our blog!
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