My husband and I went down the road again today that I wrote about in an earlier post. It’s steep and windy, has a very precipitous drop off and gets icy during the winter months; and there are no guard rails.
Originally we swore off of it but as the weather conditions improved, we began to use it again then they went back to bad and we found the road to be reasonably kept up sanding-wise.
Because of the expectations we’d built up, we decided to venture down the Hill Of Death again today, not expecting it to be the Hill Of Death but now it’s the Hill Of Death again in our eyes.
I started to record on my phone as we approached because the hill had become the subject of some contention amongst the community and I like to document things just in case.
Sure enough, we began to slide about halfway down and I had a heart attack. My husband remained remarkably calm. No, I wasn’t planning on sliding. I didn’t enjoy the experience at all. No set up here.
I posted it to the local discussion/classifieds Facebook page calling for the installation of a guard rail and all hell broke lose. To my surprise, the video has been viewed over two thousand times since this morning (a lot for anything I’ve ever posted anywhere).
An almost cultural debate has arisen out of it. Some folks swear you should just stay home if you don’t know how to drive in the snow or don’t move to the country if you can’t stand the heat. Others maintain the government has a duty to provide reasonably safe roadways to the public. I agree with the latter. BTW, two other people came dangerously close to sliding off the edge.
At the end of the day, no amount of local rhetoric about “staying home” is gonna keep an accident or death from happening due to the negligence of the party responsible for it’s maintenance. No amount of “buck-up” talk will prevent the issue from the inevitable reckoning that will take place within the justice system. And most importantly, no amount of “get some chains, idiot” talk is going to bring the dead back to life.
Decisions involving public safety on publicly maintained roads are rightfully made and administered by the government agencies responsible for them. In my humble opinion.
One gentleman replied to my post on Facebook with the reply “it’s Winter”. That sums it up, I guess. I wrote a poem in response:
Winter the disqualifier
Why sand roads or put out fires
For that matter who needs seatbelts
Hunker down wait till the sleet melts
Groceries gas are overrated
Don’t complain or you’ll be hated
It’s winter that makes perfect sense
Fits most every circumstance
If you’re not a seasoned expert
It’s on you deserve what you get
Having standards is for sissies
Center lines, stop lights are prissy
We don’t need no traffic laws
Cause we have hydraulic jaws
Summer fall just pick a season
Don’t need logic or good reason
It’s wintertime yup that explains it
No one should have to maintain it
I believe in common sense
Use your brain in self defense
But we don’t all drive the same
Let’s be clear on who’s to blame
It’s winter – lower expectations
Don’t deserve safe transportation
Its winter after all why bother
That guy who died he ain’t my father
Crash and burn on your own time
Just don’t do it on my dime
If you die don’t take me with you
Safety for the whole’s no issue
Dog eat dog philosophy
Winter means its you not me
Public safety how absurd
No one cares be rest assured
Wait that guardrail they left out
Car went over hit my house
Now who pays who is at fault
Wish they’d sanded put down salt
Suddenly its now my problem
County pay my bills all of ’em
Gubment should have done much more
Car parts on my kitchen floor
Group responsibility
Applies to you but not to me
Its winter that is my excuse
Backfired badly now I lose