Nevada has the best roads and the worst drivers in the country. Sometimes I wish it were the other way around. Yesterday I saw the light changing from green to amber so I slowed to a stop. A car whizzed past me at 60 miles an hour just as it turned red. I see this every day. I hope his appointment was important because the next one may be in Samarra.
The ecology of the road has become ever more dangerous. It started with behemoth SUV’s and trucks and has now moved on to texting, tweeting, eating, smoking; anything to keep your hands off the wheel and your eyes off the toad.
This week a truck smashed into an Amtrak train in rural Nevada and people were killed. I still don’t know the story. It was in the middle of nowhere with no other traffic in sight and still there was a collision. I guess the poor dead driver was doing a crossword puzzle.
There was a saying about the perils of a plane crash, that was meant to be calming: “If your number comes up, it comes up”. But the rejoinder is, “What if the pilot’s number comes up?”
James Janisse, the all night DJ on KJAZ used to sign off with “I wish you green lights and blue skies,” as commuters filled the LA freeways. I would add, “And a long happy journey through life.”
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