EDMONDS – I’m not sure why I’m here, but smashing into an Allstate Insurance agent’s car sure is fun.
We’re playing something called whirly ball, a bumper-car game that allows you to crash your vehicle into others as you scheme to score in a game that combines lacrosse and basketball.
Somehow the point of this junket is to promote driving safety.
If intentionally sideswiping someone in a rubber cart as I chase after a little plastic ball makes me a better driver on the road, then great.
At least I was less stressed when I left my cart. In fact, I was decidedly relaxed and loose.
Seriously though, Allstate did a nationwide survey that shows drivers in the Seattle area are among the nation’s worst.
“We have a lot of aggressive drivers here,” said Kimberly Pepper, senior regional communication consultant for corporate relations at Allstate.
Was she talking about the way I drive?
I was on her team, after all.
Maybe she was mad because I slammed into her one time too many. More likely it was because I couldn’t hit a shot, and we lost both matches we played.
I couldn’t quite get a handle on using a plastic scoop to shoot the ball into an overhead net. Like in lacrosse, you’re supposed to flick the ball where you want it to go.
I couldn’t score, but I sure was good at slamming into the opposing team. That has to count for something.
What Pepper was really talking about is her insurance company’s pitch to reward people for being good drivers by giving them a break on their insurance.
Sounds fine to me.
All they have to do is bring their potential customers out for a bout of whirly ball. That will sell them instantly.
It did me.
Question: Is there a plan to add a right-turn-only lane on northbound 91st Avenue SE and Highway 204 in Frontier Village?
It backs up frequently and there seems to be room to add a right-turn-only lane.
Kelly Gray, Everett
Answer: Traffic Operations is currently studying 91st Avenue NE between Market Place and Highway 204 to determine whether changes to the traffic lanes should take place.
One of the issues is, in fact, providing a northbound right-turn lane from 91st to Highway 204. Given other current resource demands, it will probably be a couple of months before we will have the study completed.
We won’t be able to do any striping until then anyway, because we need to wait until the rain eases up and the pavement dries, maybe in April.
Jim Bloodgood, traffic engineer, Snohomish County public works
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