Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Dallas Has A Problem For Sure

This car is correctly going to right direction, including making the required right turn at the stop sign. However, a black SUV came down the road today going the other direction and nearly hit me head on. The very point that TxDOT could learn from  about why vehicles are going the wrong way all over the Metroplex and lives are being lost.

The park is posted with signs that read:" You must Obey Warning Signs. It is a state law."

One thing that I have noticed about Dallas is the number of people who go the wrong way on the Toll Roads, expressways, and streets. One thing about going to the lake on a daily basis is that over a period of time, it begins to point itself out to you that people don't read signs---especially road signs and/or traffic signs. The Texas Department of Transportation could do a study in a high use area where this very topic could be studied in concentration. After all, it is state law to obey warning signs!

In talking to various departments and people from inside city hall on down, it came to light that one of the reasons why there are so many violations at White Rock Lake is because the park and recreation division are short on parking spaces in out-of-ratio comparison to the number of people using the park in comparison to the numbers just a few short years ago---like 5 years. Also, White Rock is a big Public Relations Platform for the city and its parks. Having passed that information on after being told to me, it's also the age old story that the genie isn't going back into the bottle once it's been let out. So, I ask one of the police officers that at the time, was new to the park beat from the old guard that has gone on to better jobs, retired and left the force or otherwise moved either up the ladder or up the food chain. The question was since you know about the parking situation being on the the reasons some of the signs had come down  why aren't the city codes enforced? His answer to me was," Thank God--next question!"

Loss Prevention finally got a good number for me to call about the signs which have caused more confusion being down than up. Since the storm hit the park, now is not the time or the place to bring up that question at the moment. However, since then, I have counted 6 armadillos, a red should hawk, a pelican and several pigeons that have been hit by cars or bikes. Surprisingly, the number is growing by bike hits on the wildlife and migrating birds. Cars, being what they are, have nearly hit kids on bikes, older adults and a few hikers. With the number of cars going the wrong way on one way patterns while others, not knowing the basics of transportation flow when "signs are not present" (i.e., when approaching a "Y" where so sign is present at where to enter,  always go to the right as if you were entering a traffic circle). State law requires that bikes observe stop signs the same as cars. That just does not happen at White Rock Lake.Images of cars going the wrong way on marked "do not enter" or 'begin one way" are into the hundreds while bikes running stop signs as if the "Tour De France" trophy was on a finish line somewhere at the lake is only going to get some one killed before that trophy is ever awarded in Dallas.

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