Rules of the Road and Traffic Jams

My best pal Jess has already posted about the ridiculous traffic in Gainesville since the start of the fall semester. By and large, residents are prepared for the influx of student vehicles, but this month has been horrific. Construction near the university is incomplete. The traffic lights are not timed porperly. The gridlock has been a nightmare.

What makes this worse is that so many drivers seem oblivious to the rules of the road. Everyone is in a hurry, and it becomes all about "me, me, me." Courtesy, sense, and patience are sadly lacking in today's drivers who think nothing of blocking intersections even though they have nowhere to go. Tuesday afternoon, I headed east on University Ave with the intention of turning north on NW 17 St. A lovely blonde, yakking on her cell phone in a new blue Nissan decided to pull across the intersection on a green (maybe yellow) light, despite the fact that there was nowhere to go. The intersection was totally blocked. When the cross traffic light turned green, no one could move. She shrugged her shoulders at the annoyed drivers and continued to chat. Must be nice to be so free of concern for others.

This is aggravating. No one should block an intersection. It's a moving violation. It causes more problems and doesn't get the offender ahead of the game. It would be one thing if it were only the blonde in the Nissan, or the idiot in the shiny black truck with the Penn State plates on the front.

What makes matters worse is that our RTS busses are the worst offenders. In the past three days, I have sat through at least five extra light changes because an RTS bus decided to pull out and block the intersection. This has happened at Buckman & University and at Gale Lemarand & Museum where the mess was so bad that traffic watied through 3 extra light changes because of a bus. There's no way to get around a bus when your light turns green. When traffic is jammed up as badly as it is around the university these days, then professional drivers should have an obligation to abide by the rules of the road and not think that blocking traffic is actually going to help them stay on schedule. Hey, RTS, the University of Florida subsidizes these routes. How about a little consideration for those of us who are paying your bills?

Although I hate getting stuck behind a bus, I am a proponent of mass transit and its benefits. These drivers should be most attuned to our traffic problems, driving laws, and how they contribute to the mess we are dealing with. These drivers have a responsibility to do things right, and they are not doing that. They are setting a bad example and making a bad situation worse.

There is really no excuse for the traffic mess that we are in now. It should not take 45 minutes to get off campus. Where are the traffic cops who are so willing to stake out residential areas like Suburban Heights? Why are our police agencies so unwilling to issue traffic violation tickets in the university area?

Gainesville does not have the infrastructure to support the traffic we have, and until that is addressed, nothing will get better. Maybe it's time to address the real problems and stop spending money on "traffic calming" circles and speed bumps. I don't see any of those things improving our North-South or East-West access.