Almost rammed at 55MPH! |
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Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
June 4, 2007
I had an exciting day on Chicagoland freeways (and not-so-free ways) today. I drove from Schaumburg to Tinley Park and back. For those of you who don’t have a clue where Tinley Park is, it’s on Oak Park Avenue near I-80. Waaaaaayyyyyy south, for you Woodstock folks.
The drive there was fairly uneventful. Just the usual bumper-to-bumper truckers at 70MPH in the 55MPH zone, the tailgaters, the speeders and lane-weavers and others who think the Speed Limit in the Minimum Speed at which they are to travel.
On the trip there, the one that probably most irritated me was the Illinois State Police trooper in car C-163 who passed me in a 45MPH construction zone. He was just moving with traffic at about 55-60MPH, but that’s 10-15MPH over the posted construction zone speed limit, and that’s not okay with me.
I think Illinois State Police troopers ought to be setting the example and driving at the posted speed limit. Gee, what a novel idea! Of course, I realize they’ll take a lot of heat for “impeding traffic”, but how can you “impede traffic” when you are driving at the speed limit?
In any event, I already had the phone number for the Chicago District of the Illinois State Police programmed in my cell phone, and I dialed them and left a message for the trooper’s supervisor. He called me back within about ten minutes and listened respectfully to my complaint. He inquired whether I wanted to make a formal complaint, and I did not. The trooper was just moving along with traffic, and he was not speeding faster than traffic flow. However, I thought his proper speed should be 45MPH and for him to be slowing down the fast pace through the construction zone.
On the return trip I was almost rear-ended by a woman driving a Toyota Corolla 4-door sedan with a handicap license plate. I was driving at 55MPH in the right-hand lane, approaching my exit at Woodfield Mall. I watched her come up fast behind me in the right lane. As she neared my car, I activated the 4-way flashers to warn her. No luck! So I accelerated (rats…. faster than 55MPH….) to avoid behind rear-ended. Still she was gaining on me. At the last minute she applied the brakes hard and slowed before hitting me. Whew!
Then she passed me and waved one of those “I’m sorry” waves and exited for Woodfield Mall. There must have been a good sale starting at 3:00PM!
If I want to stay up until midnight, I’ll post on www.AboveAverageDriver.com all the license plates of the most dangerous drivers I encountered on my two hours on I-290 and I-294 today.