495 Express Lanes: Designed for Disaster
Short sell: AVOID THE INNER LOOP OF THE BELTWAY IN SPRINGFIELD THIS WEEKEND!!
If you want to see the fun that's happening in my neighborhood, I found yesterday morning's video from The World's Most Annoying News Helicopter... http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/230051/158/VIDEO-495-Express-Lane-Confusion-Continues
In the first four minutes, there were 10 near-misses of which two were "dang-they-almost-crashed!" - which makes the whole "and all the accidents are happening here, and blocking the left lanes of the Beltway" thing pretty understandable. A near miss every single minute? That's pretty darned bad!
After the 4-minute mark, it appears the cameraman starts tracking individual cars that are speeding, have out-of-state-plates, or are doing Other Dumb Traffic Things and zooming in on them - and sure enough, several of them are near misses. Cutting off loaded-down semis. Squeaking into the left lane - and then dashing BACK into the express lanes. Almost no one signals (why let the people you're about to kill know?).
Seriously. STAY AWAY FROM HERE.
If you want to see the fun that's happening in my neighborhood, I found yesterday morning's video from The World's Most Annoying News Helicopter... http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/230051/158/VIDEO-495-Express-Lane-Confusion-Continues
In the first four minutes, there were 10 near-misses of which two were "dang-they-almost-crashed!" - which makes the whole "and all the accidents are happening here, and blocking the left lanes of the Beltway" thing pretty understandable. A near miss every single minute? That's pretty darned bad!
After the 4-minute mark, it appears the cameraman starts tracking individual cars that are speeding, have out-of-state-plates, or are doing Other Dumb Traffic Things and zooming in on them - and sure enough, several of them are near misses. Cutting off loaded-down semis. Squeaking into the left lane - and then dashing BACK into the express lanes. Almost no one signals (why let the people you're about to kill know?).
Seriously. STAY AWAY FROM HERE.