The Death Loop

Rush hour on Loop 1604 once again was a crawl for several hours Wednesday morning when a car spun into oncoming traffic, causing a four-vehicle crash that killed one motorist and injured two.

The Transportation Department has long-term plans to add lanes to ease congestion and add a concrete divider, but San Antonio Police Chief Albert Ortiz said that until then, Loop 1604 will be "a zero-tolerance zone for traffic violators."
Police have stepped up traffic enforcement on the road." Ortiz said officers in unmarked cars will target aggressive drivers and patrol officers will run radar more often. Ortiz said he hopes the enhanced enforcement will force people to be more cautious.

So more than writing tickets, Celaya said he hopes the police presence on the loop "will encourage them to be more careful when they're driving out here."

This is part of an email I sent Big Princess. Its from the local news and I thought the fear of a ticket might help her slow down on a road she travels frequently. I knew she’d be pissed if I only sent it to her, (you know, singling her out) so I sent it to a couple of other people I know travel that road daily.

I mentioned in the email that I had seen 3 police cars that very morning so the police weren’t just blowing smoke.

I travel this road at least twice a day minimum and I continue to see the police, lots of them. What effect does this have on traffic? Are we more careful or cautious? No, traffic that was flowing smoothly suddenly comes to a halt as everyone (yes, everyone) taps the breaks as soon as they see the police cars.

Then I began to notice they were parked in the same spots every day, both in the morning and the evening. So I looked more closely (since we were braking anyway) and low and behold, the cars are empty. Left behind like the unbelievers after rapture.

Well, I guess we really couldn’t expect the police to actually be there every day, no matter that they said they would. Besides, empty police cars don’t need to be paid overtime or benefits. And people are still braking, so I guess it’s working.

Ps. Big Princess asked me if the newspaper highlighted the particular phrases or was that my doing. “No dear, the paper wanted to emphasize those points.”