US Hwy 1 how things have changed

[Frankenkubota]

I had to take new pup to vet and always try for the first appt , of any day. I was on US Hwy 1 heading south, nothing outta of the ordinary.

US Hwy 1used to be the big dog. National geographic actually did a cover story on it years ago.

First, all the traffic was stopped. A big accident had just happened, cops not there yet. a big flat bed with a mini ex and something else was off in the trees, no truck attached. 25 yards up, suv completely crunched, 25 more yards, a econoline van 50 ft in the woods!

This is the 3rd time ive seen an accident where a vehicle ends up deep in the woods. I'm convinced someone is texting, looks up and must swerve off the hwy to avoid rear ending the folks in front. I lived on the road and don't remember seeing that many cars in the woods!

I was bored so i started paying attention to who was passing me. I live in the right lane. This is just an observation so.......38 of the 42 cars that passed were single young gals, maybe 25-35? It was 7:30 in the morning, headed to work?

Last event, US hwy 1......dead stopped again. This time there were long lines of soccer moms dropping off their kids at school, single gal, huge vehicle. Looked like Starbucks drive thru.

Things have changed.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was headed down the interstate a couple of months ago when both lanes came to a complete standstill. It took me around 45 minutes to go 1/10 of a mile, then we slowly got moving again. Apparently somebody had tried to reverse direction in one of those "Authorized vehicles only" crossovers, pulled out and got smacked. Miraculously, there were no serious injuries.
I spent most of that time wishing that I hadn't had that last cup of coffee.

 

[Doughknob]

YCFS

 

[TractorTYMe]

Young women are the ones I see the most with their eyes in a mini screen while driving. If I see a vehicle with irregular driving usually one of those or as DUI'er.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Where I live, big trucks are my fear. I have had to move over nearly into the ditch a couple of times because they came over the center line. Don't know if they are inattentive, or just poor drivers.

 

[old and tired]

...Don't know if they are inattentive, or just poor drivers.

They are poor drivers because they are inattentive...

 

[oosik]

You guys have US HWY 1 - up/down the East coast. We have Interstate 90 going east/west across our state. Bad drivers are bad - no matter where they are.

 

[ljjhouser]

There have been many times that I thought about how amazed my father would have been if he ever saw a cell phone. He passed away in 1986. He would have thought "What a gift and What a tool." The ability to contact our family or get help is fantastic. It makes me sad that such a wonderful tool has been turned into a toy - for games and enterainment. It is like our life was empty and we have to have a phone to fill it. Terrific tool, now a tool and marketing outlet. I know texting is against the law in some places. I have seen this many time. Never seen someone being pulled over for it. I was ran off the road to avoid a lady texting hitting me. She did stop and apoligize - I only said "That is ok, hope there is a lesson here." My wife told me "OK, I've had enough "off roading" for today. we were in our Jeep Wrangler.

 

[Whidbey]

Where I live, big trucks are my fear. I have had to move over nearly into the ditch a couple of times because they came over the center line. Don't know if they are inattentive, or just poor drivers.

That happens all the time on back roads where I live, Big trucks, little trucks, cars. I believe it is looking at cell phones.

 

[Jchonline]

You guys have US HWY 1 - up/down the East coast. We have Interstate 90 going east/west across our state. Bad drivers are bad - no matter where they are.

Exactly. I see contractors (males) pulling trailers staring down at their phones all the time. This is probably more dangerous than a mom bus. Its an age thing, not a gender thing.

 

[Jstpssng]

There have been many times that I thought about how amazed my father would have been if he ever saw a cell phone. He passed away in 1986. He would have thought "What a gift and What a tool." The ability to contact our family or get help is fantastic. It makes me sad that such a wonderful tool has been turned into a toy - for games and enterainment. It is like our life was empty and we have to have a phone to fill it. Terrific tool, now a tool and marketing outlet. I know texting is against the law in some places. I have seen this many time. Never seen someone being pulled over for it. I was ran off the road to avoid a lady texting hitting me. She did stop and apoligize - I only said "That is ok, hope there is a lesson here." My wife told me "OK, I've had enough "off roading" for today. we were in our Jeep Wrangler.

That's my frustration also. I got my first cell phone in 1996, it was a great tool for a lot of reasons. Over time as they "improved" service got inversely worse. 25 years later I struggle to find a signal in places where I once could make calls easily.

All that I want a phone for is to make phone calls; I couldn't care less about games or the latest "APP" craze.

 

[old and tired]

....I got my first cell phone in 1996...

Back in the day, I was rocking a Bag Phone for the longest time. Connected to the (few) towers better. Still have a flip phone, no smart phone. When I retire in a couple years, plan to get rid of the flip phone. And to annoy the graduate students that I deal with, I don't have a data plan so NO texting!!!! (that also pisses off my boss, so two for one!) ...3 for 1, if you count my wife, too.

 

[jmc]

Well, one other good thing about cell phones is that criminals who forget to turn them off leave a slime trail:

Heard an interesting follow up on how Australian law enforcement rescued the 4 YO girl a long way from the campground she was abducted from. Someone there reported hearing a car near the campground at 3AM. After reviewing the cell tower records, one number was an outlier for that area and they tracked him home.

 

[Jstpssng]

Well, one other good thing about cell phones is that criminals who forget to turn them off leave a slime trail:

Heard an interesting follow up on how Australian law enforcement rescued the 4 YO girl a long way from the campground she was abducted from. Someone there reported hearing a car near the campground at 3AM. After reviewing the cell tower records, one number was an outlier for that area and they tracked him home.

I was wondering how they found her.

 

[Oaktree]

There have been many times that I thought about how amazed my father would have been if he ever saw a cell phone. He passed away in 1986. He would have thought "What a gift and What a tool." The ability to contact our family or get help is fantastic. It makes me sad that such a wonderful tool has been turned into a toy - for games and enterainment. It is like our life was empty and we have to have a phone to fill it. Terrific tool, now a tool and marketing outlet.

Or might have been appalled that so many people voluntarily carry a device with them 24/7 that's capable of tracking every movement they make. If the government tried to mandate such a device there'd be a revolution.

Its an age thing, not a gender thing.

Not even an age thing. I see 70 year olds just as addicted to their cellphones as 20somethings.

That's my frustration also. I got my first cell phone in 1996, it was a great tool for a lot of reasons. Over time as they "improved" service got inversely worse. 25 years later I struggle to find a signal in places where I once could make calls easily.

All that I want a phone for is to make phone calls; I couldn't care less about games or the latest "APP" craze.

I didn't have one until 2004 or so (and that was one provided by my then-employer). Even now, all I have is a Tracfone flip phone, and 99% of the time it sits in a drawer at home.
Can't really comment on coverage then vs. now. When we bought this house in '05 there was no service here, even now it's pretty iffy. Regional coverage, almost non-existent then is OK now.

 

[rademamj1]

Use of cell phones is ubiquitous today. Everyone has them, and even some people often carry 2 or 3 cell phones. As a result, many Police departments use cell phone records as the first peice of information for solving most crimes. Multiple cell phone towers by triangulation can put specific phones at a crime scene at a specific time. Its an unbiased eyewitness to the crime event.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
They also have built-in GPS which is surprisingly accurate.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Exactly. I see contractors (males) pulling trailers staring down at their phones all the time. This is probably more dangerous than a mom bus. Its an age thing, not a gender thing.

i believe it's more a gender thing.