If you happened to be in the northbound lane Friday after a Brownsville teen was killed when he drove on the worn direction on U.S. 77-83 Expressway, you were in for a hot, frustrating, wait as emergency responders and law enforcement officials tried to clear the accident.
More than a few cars overheated as their drivers sought to get off the crowded northbound lanes and frontage road with little success. It fell to our lot that we were on our way to Harlingen on an errand when we got caught in the traffic jam with little or no way out. The snail-pace movement of the traffic on the northbound lanes prevented almost any movement, but if the driver was lucky to get off near a ramp – as we were – it was often worse trying to take a side street and getting away from the traffic. More than one motorist – including us – tried to drive east taking the drive along Dr. Guajardo's office only to find that the road ends in a cul-de-sac and the property is bounded by a drainage ditch that prevented egress through adjoining back properties.
The driver of a car that had heated up sought water from Guajardo's office building, only to find that the spigots' handles had been removed to prevent people from using them. Only the goodwill of a clerk working at a paternity-testing office open next to the building was able to help them with their problem.
Getting off the expressway and the frontage was bad enough. Now we and the rest who had fallen for the false exit had to get back on the frontage road and navigate up to the light at Alton Gloor. Security guards stationed at the frontage driveway of the Valley Regional Hospital prevented its use to detour the jam by placing orange traffic cones there and standing guard over the entry. It is difficult to imagine that an emergency vehicle could make its way there through the jam, but they closed it anyway.
Compared to the loss of a young life, we're sure that enduring a traffic jam is small potatoes. But tell that to someone stuck in the middle of the mess and their car starts to overheat.
3 comments:
Tell that person who's car overheated to tell THAT to the parents of the deceased. Not cool, I expected more from this website. I mean, I get sarcasm and such, but not indifference to death because a car needed water. Really not cool.
Ask the parents who taught their kid how to drive period.
How did he end up driving against traffic?
Suicide attempt, while endangering others?
Inattention because of cellphone, texting?
Fleeing from someone?
Sorry for their loss, but responsibility must be placed where it belongs.
It's clear the author meant no disrespect here. He was only stating a consequence of the traffic jam. This seems to be a common problem in the valley anytime there is a traffic whether it be in the bridges or in South Padre Island on the Fourth of July. Take care of your vehicles folks. Although it seems to be the common thing to do down there, water DOES NOT belong in your radiator.
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