I'm not pretending this is the biggest deal in the world, but . . .
If you read the story, it's about what the headline leads you to expect. This stretch of road has been the scene of decades of nonstop accidents (13 in the past year alone), but pleas to do something about it have been pretty much met with "meh." However, now that someone famous has been injured there, there's a sudden outpouring of support for doing something about it:
The accident generated international headlines and has prompted officials to take a new look at how to improve safety....Sheriff Alex Villanueva says he will speak with city officials about possible solutions.
County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the area, plans to request a safety review of the stretch of road where the accident occurred. “I have driven this road myself many times, and I have noticed how easy it is to pick up speed on that hill, but I did not realize how many accidents were happening there,” Hahn said in an email.
This is a minor example of something that's all too common. Why do we so often have to wait until some famous person has a problem before we can summon up the will to do something about it? Or, alternatively, until some member of Congress personally faces some kind of hardship and suddenly decides we really ought to fix it? Why not just fix our problems, big or small, regardless of who they affect?
I went to Google maps to look at the road. WTF!!!! Dangerous road No F'ing Way!! It looked like it could be driven at 70 without having to slow for the curves. I drive hwy 49 from cool to Auburn frequently. Now that is a dangerous road. Easy to fix. Just build a bridge over the American River to Auburn.
I grew up in that area and have driven it many times as we kept a horse up there. It is quite steep so it is fairly easy to find yourself going much faster than you think. There are some pretty bad sightlines there too for cross traffic.
Today we are all Rob Portman's gay son & Bristol Palin's illegitimate eldest child.
Wait, what? Are you saying that in Rancho Palos Verdes, the authorities are unwilling to do something that would improve public safety because it might annoy the locals? And then they reconsider when somebody famous is involved?!
Surely this is unpossible!
They can't even put up a sign, 'Warning: Dangerous Road'?
Or, 'Entering High Accident Zone'?
*** Highway to the Danger Zone ***
Talking about nothing happening until it affects someone famous, if only Ted Cruz had the public spirit of turning into an icicle instead of decamping to Cancun!
Just like last year it suddenly occurred to people how helicopters could use better terrain alert systems
Or, looked at differently, the county or the state is about to spend several million dollars because some random famous guy can’t be bothered to b
I've seen that in Congressional Republicans but generally not Democrats. AOC did not, for instance, have to help Texas out at all. They aren't her district. She wasn't affected by the freeze. But I have lost count of the number of times I've seen a conservative who is liberal in some oddball specific area, and when I look into it, it is because he has an affected relative.
@##& iPad. Meant to say, looking at it differently, the county or state is about to spend millions because some random famous guy couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to his driving.
The standard joke in several places I've lived outside cities is "wait till someone gets killed, and they'll put up a stop sign". Come on, this is America.