“You’re going the wrong way!”

In 1987 this line had us in tears. Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

30 years later…

February 16, 2017 2:30 this morning troopers stopped a wrong way driver on the 60 near Mill avenue after 11 terrifying miles . We have had five incidents of wrong way drivers just in the last week. DPS received 1600 reports of wrong way drivers in 2016.

Out here in Arizona we have also had more than our share of people passing out behind the wheel. December 12, 2016 NFL “star” Michael Floyd was found passed out at a light. Extreme DUI with twice the legal limit, unconscious at a street light.

Professional golfer Steven Bowditch being the most recent “famous” person to have been found passed out behind the wheel at a light. He was out here for this year’s always amazingly fun Waste Management Open. Thanks for coming.

We live in a time where travel, even free travel, is available twenty-four hours a day. Uber, Lift, Light rail, Taxis, Buses are all out there so you do not have to drive anywhere after a night of too much. But for whatever reason, any help to get home safely continually gets ignored, most appallingly by those who have the means to never have this type of thing happen.

In a world that is beyond consumed with the idea of secret and not so secret forces terrorizing the innocent, my reality is I am much more likely to get hurt or killed by a fellow citizen pretending to drive.

Ask any motorcyclist in Arizona. Last year I personally saw three separate incidents with motorcyclist laying their bikes down.

Then there’s the shootings. Oh yes, we have road rage but in Arizona we also get to have a serial shooter taking aim while we drive to and from work for about a month solid in 2015. From August 27-September 10 we had 11 incidents on the freeways.

Do I even need to bring up cell phones?

Once you close that door and turn on that engine you are a loaded weapon.

We have watched in horror as trucks are now being used to plow through groups of innocent people.

OR…

How about we stop a freeway and cause accidents so we can film a car or truck doing donuts? No, not for a movie…to post online as entertainment.

The reality is, ALL of what I have written about, all the horror on the roads recently, has been done by both men and women. Pick a color. PEOPLE are doing this. People are not doing much of anything safe on the roads at all anymore.

It’s not ok. There is no argument. It’s called Wrong Way Driving!  WRONG!

It sucks… but now quoting “you’re going the wrong way!” just isn’t funny to me anymore.