DAN MAL 4 - Know this car?

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
September 29, 2010

Here's a Woodstock driver who could use a ticket...

About 2:45PM a white four-door sedan was westbound on Lake Avenue in front of Woodstock Lumber. A l-o-n-g line of westbound cars was stopped at the red light at Ill. Route 47. As it reached Woodstock Lumber, the driver eased out into the two-way, left-turn lane and slowly rolled past the stopped cars for a distance of about 250 yards.

As I watched from where I was stopped eastbound at 47, I wondered just where the driver was going to turn left. He didn't. He continued forward, slowly, and then rolled into the left-turn lane at 47. At that point cars were turning right to northbound 47, and the driver of the white car ducked back over into the through lane and stopped as the third car from the red light.

The light changed and I could see the front plate as the car passed me. It looked like DAN MAL 4, although it was hard to see on its front bracket, which was mounted low on the bumper.

This type of intentional maneuver deserves a ticket in Woodstock. There are many violations that warrant only a warning, if the police department is courteous enough to take into consideration the high combined cost of a fine and court costs, which are often 150% of the amount of the fine. In this case, the driver obviously intended to use the center lane to illegally pass a long line of stopped cars.

Perhaps the police will catch this driver another day. There are many other places for similar violations of the use of the two-way, left-turn to access a left-turn lane early. Northbound 47 at Country Club Rd., at Judd St. and at McHenry Avenue would be great places to grab violators.