On Sept. 6, my husband and I were traveling north on I-5 toward Mount Vernon. As we got closer to Mount Vernon, traffic started backing up. It was evident there had been an accident. Suddenly dozens of drivers in front of us started making U-turns in the middle of the freeway and driving south up a north-bound freeway ramp. People were coming down the ramp, but saw the back-up problem and started backing up themselves. This only added to the traffic mess! And wouldn’t you know, except for a law enforcement officer traveling past us on the right shoulder to get to the accident site … no other law enforcement was visible to see all this crazy driving.
As we neared the accident site we could see orange cones blocking the right two lanes, so brains would tell you to get over to the far left lane, which by that time was the only lane moving. Not so with many selfish drivers. It was a chance to run ahead of everyone else. Then, as they approached the cones, the rest of us had to wait while they crowded back in to the rest of the traffic. There was a time you would have seen law enforcement out there directing traffic, especially near accident sites. Our local newspaper told us they would be out there in unmarked vehicles, and on motorcycles, watching drivers this holiday weekend. As we passed the accident scene I noticed the southbound lanes of the freeway were backing up due to drivers wanting to view the accident. Our freeways and roadways are not the nightmare problem we face in this state. Impatient and aggressive drivers are! If we had 10 lanes going in both directions, the problem is still drivers!
JUDITH WILLOUGHBY
Marysville
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